DIABOLIC
by Ookami Kasumi
Summary: FF7/AC / Vincent Valentine is kidnapped by the ghost of Sephiroth for a very personal mission. COMPLETE SxVV Yaoi
1. Chapter 1

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_Vincent Valentine is kidnapped by the ghost of Sephiroth for a very personal mission. _****

**_Warning: Rated M_** - _Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

**Nolan Ash** – _For all the wrong reasons, this one's for you._

* * *

**One**

* * *

"There's nothing like the feel of hot flesh sucking the cum from your cock while the sweating body under you writhes and moans."

The deep and masculine midnight velvet voice whispering in Vincent's ear burned across his dreams, rasped against his soul, and lifted the hairs all over his body. He jolted awake in the darkness.

A gently luminescent face of carved angelic beauty with cat-slitted green eyes, wearing a demonic grin complete with fangs, was only inches from his face. Long silver hair rose from a high widow's peak and fell to cloak impossibly wide shoulders, then tumbled down the elegant curve of his leather suited spine to spill over both the sides of the bed.

Massive wings arched from his shoulders, but only the left wing was actually visible; the feathers black and edged in steel gray. The right wing was barely more than the outline of a shadow. During his days as a living man, neither wing had possessed enough substance to be visible to the human eye, but they'd been there all the same. They were the secret behind the spectacular soaring leaps he'd been famed for.

Once upon a time, Sephiroth had been a war hero, and then a mad man. Now he was a ghost. A ghost made of nearly pure life-stream energy that gave him far more substance than any ghost should ever possess.

And he was straddling Vincent's hips with a hard-on pressing intently against Vincent's belly. Only a thin layer of leather, the cotton sheet and the loose pants Vincent had slept in, separated them. He winked. "Miss me?"

Vincent grabbed for the pale throat with his leather-gloved left hand while reaching up with his right for the tri-barreled Cerberus pistol he kept tucked between the mattress and the box-spring.

The dark angel gasped and grabbed Vincent's gloved wrist with both hands. He forced it down to the mattress.

Vincent's fingers scrabbled between the tucked sheets. It wasn't there. The gun wasn't there.

"Looking for that?" The black angel pointed clear across the cramped room to the pile of packing crates. On the top cases a brass filigreed pistol gleamed in a patch of moonlight. Right next to it was a delicately jointed and clawed gold titanium glove. "You look so sweet when you're sleeping; so unlike the real you."

Vincent twisted hard, shoving to get out from under his all too real nightmare. Damn it! Why had he gone to sleep practically naked?

The hard muscular weight straddling Vincent's hips shifted and powerful fingers dug into his shoulders and shoved him back down into the bed-sheets. "Oh, no, no, no, no…" The chuckle was dark and sensual. "I prefer you like this, on your back."

Vincent glared at him. "You're dead, damn you!"

The demonic angel rolled his eyes and snorted. "You said that last time, and the time before that. Can't you think of something new?"

Vincent dug his heels in and bucked to throw the hard muscular body off. "Get off me, you bastard!" The bed shuddered under them. "Get off!"

"That's not new either." The man above him shifted smoothly with Vincent's movements, his wings mantling over them both, and remained stubbornly seated right where he was. He chuckled. "You know, it never ceases to amaze me how a man twice my age can look like someone still in their twenties." He ground his hips against Vincent's. "And feel like one too."

Vincent grabbed the forearms holding him down and brought his knees up in an attempt to get his feet under him enough to flip the larger man off.

Sephiroth leaned forward, out of foot range and pressed his full weight down on Vincent's shoulders. "Mmm, yeah, right against my dick. Do that some more."

Vincent fell back against the sheets gasping for breath. On his feet he had speed and dexterity on anything that moved, but he wasn't on his feet, he was flat on his back. Sephiroth's longer body, greater weight, and sheer physical power, gave the dark angel every advantage. Add to that Sephiroth's full decade more of battlefield combat experience, most of it hand to hand. Brute strength alone obviously wasn't going to work.

Vincent had only had one weapon left, but he needed to get the leather glove off his left hand to use it. "How did you get in here?"

The black angel's silver brows rose. "Okay, that's new. The window curtains were wide open, and there you were sleeping so sweetly in a pool of moonlight. How could I resist?"

Vincent glanced toward the window. The sash was up and the screen was nothing but shreds. He couldn't believe he'd slept so hard that he hadn't heard the sound of the window opening, not to mention the screen being ripped out. He couldn't believe that no one else sleeping in the small farmhouse hadn't heard it either.

Vincent glared at Sephiroth. "What did you do?" He eased his hands above his head and close together.

Sephiroth watched his movements and snorted. "Nothing fatal; merely a very simple sleep haze. Apparently your power-limiter isn't running." He smiled, showing pointed teeth.

Vincent sucked in a breath. The power limiter _wasn't_ running. Not since late last night. Cid had been fighting with it all day. Something had sucked the power-core dry. "You?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "The core made a nice snack."

Vincent frowned. The power limiter's outer barrier kept energy-fused monsters at bay by draining life-force. It would knock a normal man unconscious, but Sephiroth was made of nearly pure energy. It should have ripped him apart. "How'd you pass the barrier to get to the core?"

Sephiroth grinned. "My secret and I'm not telling."

Vincent growled low in his chest. Without knowing how he'd done it, they couldn't prevent it from happening again. "You could have killed us!" His fingers hooked under the edge of the long leather glove covering his left forearm.

Sephiroth rolled his cat-green eyes and curled his lip. "Oh dear, I could have caused the deaths…" A powerful liquid growl rolled from him. "…of all those that caused mine."

Vincent growled right back, and peeled the leather glove from his left arm. "You caused your own death, you fucking psychopath!" He threw the glove and swung his bare right fist at the grinning mouth.

The demonic angel grabbed Vincent's fist and slammed it back down against the mattress. "That was weak, Vincent."

Vincent used that momentum to bring up his left hand, the one that wasn't human, the one he normally kept gloved to the elbow to hide the fact that it was barely made of flesh at all. Thanks to the monstrosity Hojo had grafted to his soul, his hand and just about his entire forearm crackled with the black lightning of elemental negative chaos. The clearly non-human fingers were tipped in curved black claws of raw power that he raked at the dark angel's face. He was done playing.

Sephiroth twisted sharply, bringing up his elbow to save his face.

Vincent's claws raked down his shoulder and arm burning right through the ghost's flesh of nearly pure life-stream energy. Smoke curled and a lock of long silver hair fell to the wooden floor to disintegrate.

Sephiroth gasped in obvious pain and rolled to the side.

Vincent came up on his knees and raised his black hand again. The sheet fluttered off the bed. Unless he invoked the other side of his soul, his hand did no more to ordinary matter, such as living flesh, than any other clawed hand might. However, against something infused with energy as Sephiroth was, his hand was pure acid.

"Ow! Fuck!" Sephiroth scowled at the long ragged tears down his arm. "That hurt, you shit!" The gouges crackled with diminutive green lightning and resealed before Vincent's eyes.

Vincent hissed. _Crap…_ That was bad. His hand should have shredded that damned ghost like paper, not just torn holes in him. Son of a bitch, he really was weak.

Sephiroth's gaze narrowed at Vincent. "I forgot Hojo made additions." He grabbed the pillow and ripped off the pillowcase. "What a nasty little surprise." He lunged.

Vincent rolled to get off the bed.

The dark angel caught Vincent by the ankle. "Oh, no you don't…!" He jerked, dragging Vincent back to the center of the bed. Grabbing on to Vincent's hip, he pulled hard and forcibly flipped him over onto his back.

Vincent kicked out hard, but the soft mattress was not a good surface for any kind of leverage. The bed shook under them. "Leave me alone!" He raked out with his black hand again. "Go bother somebody else!"

The dark angel blocked Vincent's black claws with an out-flung arm. "I'd love too." Ignoring the resulting gauges, he sprawled on top of Vincent, pinning his struggling body. "But I need you." He grabbed for Vincent's black wrist with both gloved hands. Smoke curled between his fingers. He hissed and hastily wrapped the pillowcase around Vincent's hand and arm. "And I'm running out of time."

Vincent pounded on the dark angel's back with his free fist and fought to twist from Sephiroth's grasp. "Blame Hojo, damn it! He's the one that did it to both of us!"

"Oh, I do…" Sephiroth pinned both of Vincent's wrists above his head. His lip curled showing the full length of his upper and lower fangs. "I blame Hojo every single waking moment I possess, then and now."

"Let me go!" Vincent released a snarl, one from the darker side of his soul. "I'm not your damned…!"

Sephiroth's mouth crashed down onto Vincent's.

Caught in mid-shout, Vincent's mouth was wide open. Warm breath filled his mouth and fangs closed on his tongue, but didn't pierce. Vincent froze. He really, really didn't want his tongue bitten. The tongue that went with the fangs slid across his in a sensual dance.

Vincent tasted aroused flesh and blood male laced with raw elemental energy. He had no idea how a ghost could taste so…alive, never mind have a hard-on, but he did. Unwanted heat speared him in the belly and tightened his balls. He groaned in denial, and hunger. The darker half of his soul was hungry, and Sephiroth tasted of everything it wanted.

Hard muscle wrapped in butter-soft, sleek, black leather rocked against him, blatantly rubbing against his belly and chest, tightening his nipples. A rigid cock trapped behind leather pressed hard against his crotch.

The blood emptied from Vincent's head, to rush straight down at mind-shattering speed. His cock filled and hardened. He couldn't stop it anymore than he could stop his spine from arching up to press for more, or the ragged moan that rolled from his throat.

Sephiroth raised his head, releasing Vincent's mouth. "That's more like it." He licked his lips and his eyes narrowed. "However, your energy level is very low. Too low; I can barely taste it. You haven't been feeding from the life-stream."

Vincent fought to string two thoughts together. "Because some blond ass-hole is haunting it."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "You'd rather starve than…?" He sighed out a breath. "Stubborn idiot, I don't take that much from you."

Vincent shifted, but Sephiroth hadn't let up on his wrists. He was hungry, but he wasn't starving, not really. It was just that hunting down energy-fused monsters to consume their souls, was far more difficult and time-consuming, than simply moon-bathing in a life-stream flow at the top of a mountain.

Sex was the only other option. Orgasm actually fed him better than death, but he was just too non-human in appearance to attract a woman for his needs. Most people took one look at his scarlet eyes and started screaming, and then shooting, never mind the fangs. Heaven help him if they ever saw his left hand.

"It's not your blood-drinking that bothers me. It's that you want to ass-fuck me too." Not to mention that doing anything beneficial for the world's greatest atrocity, was not high on his priority list. He seriously doubted Cloud, or any of the others, would take it very well either.

Unfortunately his darker side didn't give a rat's ass about anything other than the fact that Sephiroth tasted like food. That he was offering it through sex only made the situation worse. He hadn't had a decent fuck in…in a really long time.

Sephiroth snorted. "You sound like a nervous virgin."

Vincent bared his teeth. "Well, I _am_ one, and I'd like to stay that way, thank you very much!"

"Is that so?" Sephiroth leaned over him, his lips a kiss away. His free hand reached down and slid right under the elastic waistband of Vincent's pants. A hot hand closed around his cock. Long nails pressed against his balls.

Vincent's breath stopped, and his heart nearly did too. Every thought in his head evaporated to focus on his pulse beating in Sephiroth's hand. He sucked in a breath and moaned it back out.

The demonic angel smiled. "Liar." He pulled his hand out and licked it with a long pointed pink tongue. "You're so hard for me you're seeping cum."

Vincent kicked out. "Just leave me alone!"

Sephiroth grabbed his ankle, pulled, and then shoved hard, turning Vincent completely over onto his belly. "No."

Vincent gasped into his pillow. His hands were free just long enough for the demonic angel to straddle Vincent's legs, trapping them. Serpent quick, he grabbed Vincent's cloth-wrapped, black hand and twisted, jerking it up into the small of Vincent's back.

Vincent groaned. He'd forgotten just how fast and strong the bastard really was.

Sephiroth forced Vincent's other arm behind him, and pinned both wrists together. "I came to find you because I hadn't seen you for the past two full moons."

Vincent winced. Sephiroth was having far too easy a time doing this. He was a lot weaker than he'd thought. "Let me guess, you're hungry."

"That too."

Vincent heard an odd click and then something sliding against something else. What the hell was the psychotic blond doing? Broad leather enclosed his wrists. _Crap!_ He bucked, but with his legs pinned, he couldn't move much at all. The strap of what could only be a leather belt continued to wind around his wrists. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I can't even feel your wings, never mind see them, so I'm assuming that your energy level is too low to allow flight."

Vincent scowled into the pillow. His wings were only truly visible when he invoked the other side of his soul, which was something he tried to avoid. However, unlike Sephiroth's, his wings retained enough substance to allow for true short-distance flight even though the human eye couldn't see them. Normally anyway… Unfortunately, the bastard was right. His energy level was too low to give his wings any substance what so ever. He hadn't felt their weight on his shoulders for the past week. "So what…?"

"I wouldn't want you to struggle and fall."

"Fall…?"

A knock sounded on the bedroom door at the foot of the bed. "Vincent?" The voice was youthful, masculine, and deep. "Vincent, are you all right in there?"

Vincent froze. It was Cloud. _Crap!_

Sephiroth didn't even flinch. He leaned down close to Vincent's ear and kept winding the belt around Vincent's wrists. "Oh how nice! I haven't seen Cloud since the day I died." He knotted the ends, tightly.

Cloud knocked a little louder. "Vincent, can I come in?"

Could he come in and see his worst enemy who was supposed to be dead, in his friend's bed engaged in what could only be some sort of kinky sex game? "No, don't!" Vincent twisted hard to kneel up on the bed. "I'm okay, really!"

Sephiroth grabbed Vincent by the upper arms and obligingly turned him to face the door, then shifted to kneel behind Vincent.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine Cloud." Vincent jerked at his arms. They didn't budge. Sephiroth had done a thorough job of tying him. "Go back to bed."

The black angel wrapped his arms about Vincent's waist, pulling Vincent back between his spread knees and onto his lap, against his hard-on. He breathed against Vincent's ear. "You sure you don't want him to come in and join us?" He set his chin on Vincent's shoulder, and smiled.

"I thought I heard voices?" Cloud's voice dropped a hair deeper.

"It's just me…" Vincent turned and glared at Sephiroth. "…dealing with a nightmare."

Sephiroth chuckled and then whispered. "Oh, now that was just cold."

Vincent bared his fangs and whispered back. "Truth hurts."

"Is that so?" Sephiroth grabbed a handful of Vincent's long black hair at the base of his neck, then jerked his head back and up.

Vincent gasped and came up on his knees, arching back against the taller man's broad chest.

"Vincent?" The doorknob rattled.

Vincent's blood ran cold. He sucked in a hard breath. "Don't come in!"

The demonic angel reached down and jerked Vincent's loose pants down to his knees. Vincent's cock sprang free in a rigid curve that reached for his navel. Sephiroth's breath washed against the edge of Vincent's ear. "I think we should let Cloud in." He gently raked his long nails down Vincent's belly. "And show him the truth of how you really feel about me." Sephiroth's hot hand closed on the base of Vincent's cock, and slid upward from root to head.

Urgency rushed through him, dribbled, and dripped over the hand clasped around him. Vincent released a soft gasping moan before he could stop himself.

"Vincent!" The door thumped. "Vincent, what's going on in there?"

Sephiroth's hot tongue swept along the curve of Vincent's ear. His breath drew shivers. "Your choice. You can be good and come with me right now, or we can wait for Cloud to break down the door."

Vincent froze. Come with him…?

"Personally, I think letting Cloud catch you with my dick jammed up your ass would do him a world of good."

"Vincent!" The door thumped and rattled in its frame. "Open the door!"

Vincent couldn't see any way out of this. He wasn't strong enough to fight off Sephiroth, and he couldn't allow Cloud catch him dallying with the world's greatest disaster. "Fine, I'll go."

"Done." Sephiroth threw out a long booted leg and slid off the bed in one smooth movement. He grabbed Vincent by the forearms, and dragged him to the edge of the bed on his knees.

Vincent's loose pants slid completely off his legs, and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. "Crap!"

"Up we go…" Sephiroth ducked and heaved Vincent over his shoulder like a rolled rug.

Whoa…!" Vincent kicked out in reflex.

A hard hand slapped his naked ass, loudly. "Don't fight me. I don't want to drop you." He didn't bother to lower his voice.

"Vincent, who's in there?" A heavy weight slammed into the door. The wood splintered, but held, just barely.

Sephiroth turned back and his brows lifted. "Good quality wood."

Vincent snarled. "I have it 'spelled' against intrusion. Move your ass, damn you!"

Sephiroth chuckled darkly. "With pleasure." In two long heavy strides he was at the window and easing one leg over the edge. The feathers of his one massive wing rustled as they passed through the cramped opening.

The door crashed open. Cloud rushed into the room with one of his huge swords gleaming in his hands. "Vincent!"

Slung over a black leather-clad shoulder, Vincent stared straight into Cloud's ice-blue gaze, then noticed all the long white hair still trailing over the windowsill, and the disappearing black feathers scattered on the floor.

And then he was falling.

And then he wasn't falling, but rising so fast he could barely breathe. Icy wind scoured his skin until it burned.

Sephiroth's wings whooshed propelling them up into the moon bright night sky, one clearly visible and the other merely a semi-transparent shadow edged in starlight. The town below became the size of a child's toy at an ungodly speed. The air thinned.

Naked and chilled to the bone, Vincent gasped for breath in the frigid wind. He'd never flown this high, or this fast. The red sash that covered his brow unraveled and fluttered away. His long black mane spilled into his eyes.

The dark angel continued to rise.

Vincent's breath left him, and consciousness fled with it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning:**_**Rated M** - _Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence_  
_**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

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**Two**

* * *

Vincent opened his eyes and stared at the distant arching and buttressed stone ceiling in total confusion for a good three breaths. He didn't recognize it at all. He pushed to sit up among the sheets and groaned. Every muscle in his body ached and his head felt muzzy, as though he'd drunk himself into a stupor and passed out.

A glance around revealed that the room was huge and perfectly square but it was more like a gazebo than a room. The walls were pretty much non-existent. Instead there were four archways. Semi-sheer curtains blew in a soft breeze that smelled distinctly of the ocean. There was not one stick of furniture but the huge round bed he was sitting in. He frowned at it. The circular bed with its pile of cream silk pillows and dark gold sheets looked like something that belonged in a love hotel.

Where the hell was he? The last thing he remembered was… _Oh yeah, I was kidnapped, by Sephiroth._

His blood turned to ice water. Panicked, he twisted sharply to look around. The demonic angel was no where in sight. His heart gave an odd twist. It had to be from relief because it absolutely could not be from disappointment.

He grabbed for the sheets with his left hand. He had to get out of there. His fingers refused to work. His hand was too numb to hold the sheets. _Huh?_ He raised his hand and stared. His left forearm, from the elbow to the tip of each clawed finger, had been wrapped in what looked like bandages, only they were pale blue and glowing slightly. _What the hell is this?_ He hadn't even felt it. He scowled and grabbed for the binding. What ever it was, it was coming off.

His fingers passed right through the bandages as though they weren't there. He dug for some kind of contact but couldn't feel a thing, just his own arm. What the hell were the bandages made of? What ever it was his human hand couldn't touch it. Later, he'd worry about it later. He needed to get out of…where ever he currently was.

He shoved the sheets aside. He was naked. A quick look around proved that his clothes were missing. In fact, there wasn't anything resembling clothing, not even a robe. He rolled his eyes. It figured. He grabbed a handful of the gold sheets with his right hand and moved to the edge of the bed. Standing on the cool stone floor he knotted the sheet around his hips. He did not like being this exposed under any circumstances, but that was not going to stop him from escape. His knees trembled under him and his head swam.

He sat back down on the edge of the bed. Damn it, he felt like total crap. He scrubbed his hand across his aching brow and stopped cold. The cloth binding he always wore was gone. _Oh fuck! _No clothes to hide his inhuman nature, no weapons, his hand incapacitated, and a big blond psychopath that could turn up any second… He curled his lips in a sour smile. This day was certainly starting out shitty.

He pushed back up onto his feet. _Got to go…_ He teetered out through the archway directly in front of him onto an overgrown paved walk. Tall grass poked between the seams of the paving stone. The gazebo, he just couldn't think of it as a room, sat atop a small hill completely surrounded by what appeared to be a heavily overgrown garden. Huge trees had filled and then rooted over their walled planters. Bushes nearly as tall as the trees had done the same thing, in addition to covering and closing off walkways while they were at it. Flowers were everywhere. Vincent sniffed. The scent of the sea was very strong, but strangely, he couldn't hear it.

A good hike down the only cleared paved walkway was a group of buildings. That seemed a logical place to start. He scuffed his hair down to cover his brow and shade his eyes, then hiked up the slippery sheet knotted at his hips. He couldn't do a damned thing about the scarlet shade of his eyes, but at least his demon hand was already covered. He just hoped his scruffy near-nakedness wouldn't get him into any major trouble.

He headed down the path trying to stay in the deepest shade. Direct sunlight was very bad for his snow-pale skin. It wouldn't kill him, but a vicious case of sunburn was still damned uncomfortable.

-VV-

Vincent was feeling far more clear-headed by the time he reached the open doorway of the first building. Under all the aggressively flowering vines, it was a lovely if simple square structure done in the classical style, and it was empty. Seriously empty, no people, no furniture, no nothing, just walls.

The next building was just as covered in flowers, and just as empty.

And so was the next.

And the next…

-VV-

At the very bottom of a hill, before a semi-tumbled stone wall with nothing growing beyond it, Vincent spotted Sephiroth. The dark angle sat on a stone bench with his wings folded tightly leaning back against the trunk of a huge tree with low-hanging branches. His booted foot was perched on the wall before him and his hands were folded on his lap. The world's greatest calamity appeared to be napping.

Vincent was too royally pissed to give a crap. After spending several hours wandering about in the deserted town, he hadn't found one living thing beyond the plants and a few small birds. The minor case of sunburn he'd gained wasn't helping his temper at all. "Where the hell is this?"

"Mmm…?" The dark angel opened his cat green eyes and yawned, raising his hand to cover his fangs as though in after-thought. "I'd say, about twelve kilometers just off the Western coast at the moment. It changes from day to day." He waved a hand toward the low wall. "Try not to fall off the edge."

_Huh?_ Vincent stepped into the tree's deep shade and leaned over the low stone wall. It was a long way down. The ocean waves were barely ripples. Were they on a mountain top?

The dark angel smiled. "I wouldn't bother looking for a way to climb down. There isn't one."

Vincent watched a cloud come out from beneath them and his brows lifted. "This is floating in mid-air?"

"Correct. At roughly two kilometers above sea level. That changes too, depending on the weather."

A floating island, and it had to be huge. He'd been wandering all damned morning and this had been his first sight of the edge. "How big is it?"

"Quite large."

Vincent snorted. _How precise._ "And it's uninhabited?"

"Other than the rather abundant plant-life and a handful of birds, I've never found anyone, or any_ thing_ here, dead or alive."

Vincent frowned. "This high up, shouldn't the air be too cold, and too thin for these plants?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Probably. It's quite cold and very thin before you cross the wall."

Vincent watched another cloud ease out from underneath. "Who's driving this thing?"

"No one that I could find."

"It's just wandering about by itself?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Apparently so."

"A floating island? I've never even heard whispers of it. Who made it?"

"No clue, but there are vague mentions of one in the legends about the ancients. The ShinRa library held a complete collection of elder tomes. Fascinating if difficult reading; it's not written in the current language."

Vincent turned to stare at him.

Sephiroth's brows lifted. "What?"

"You … read?"

Sephiroth's jaw clenched. "I'm a general, of course I read!"

"You're also insane."

The dark angel looked away and scowled. "I was never insane, my body was."

Vincent choked on a startled laugh. His_ body_ was insane? "Isn't that an oxymoron?"

Sephiroth turned to look at him, crossed his arms and his voice softened. "Far less so, than you would imagine."

Speaking of bodies… Vincent raised his bound hand. It was still numb, he could move his arm, and his hand to some degree, but his fingers didn't want to close. "What is this?"

The dark angel smiled, showing all his fangs. "I would have thought you knew the answer to that one. The binding was made with a derivative of the only substance that cancels out chaos energy; puts it to sleep, you might say."

Vincent's breath left him. "Proto materia…" No wonder his human hand couldn't touch it. It was too primal in nature to have corporeal substance.

"See, you did know the answer." He lifted his chin. "We are certainly full of questions. Unusual for you, don't you think?"

Vincent started. He _was_ asking a lot of questions, almost as if he wanted to keep Sephiroth talking, as though he wanted his…company. He turned away to look over the edge of the world. That was just too unnerving to think about.

"What? No more questions?" The chuckle was warm and soft as velvet.

It grated against Vincent's nerves. He hated to be laughed at. "Here's a question for you." He turned back around. "When did you start chasing men? I'd always heard that you were a womanizer?"

Sephiroth's gaze turned icy. "_That _is a subject for another time."

Vincent smiled sweetly. _Oh, did I hit a nerve?_ "What's wrong with now?"

Sephiroth suddenly smiled just as sweetly. "You do realize that your ass is still virgin territory and you are completely at my tender mercy?"

Vincent's cheeks heated. _Bastard…_ "So, how did you find this place?"

Sephiroth nodded in clear acknowledgement to the change in subject. "By accident. I was blown here by a storm."

"Are you going to kill me?"

Sephiroth snorted and raised a silver brow. "Do I need to?"

Vincent frowned. He hadn't expected that reply. He took in a breath and released it. "It would probably be a good idea. At full power I can destroy you."

The dark angel pursed his lips and nodded. "So painfully truthful… And you wonder why I always liked you?"

Always _liked…?_ And he said he wasn't insane? "You can't be serious?"

Sephiroth rose from the carved bench. "My dear Vincent Valentine, when you work in a company where lies are the only constant, truth becomes an exceedingly valuable commodity, not to mention the only truly effective weapon one has."

Vincent frowned. He was sure that was supposed to be relevant, but he couldn't see how. "Was that supposed to make sense?"

Sephiroth grinned. "It makes perfect sense, but I doubt you're ready to hear it."

Vincent clenched his teeth. "Try me."

Sephiroth crossed his arms and nodded. "All right, Hojo made you specifically to serve me."

Vincent's brain shut down completely, and he backpedaled so fast he very nearly fell on his ass.

The dark angel snorted. "I told you so."

Temper flared white hot. "That's bullshit!" Vincent balled his good hand into a fist and bared his teeth. "Hojo did this to me because I pissed him off."

Sephiroth snorted. "I don't doubt it for a moment. However, all of Hojo's creations, no matter how twisted, served ShinRa. They all had a purpose. He tapped a finger against his chest. "I was designed specifically to win wars against armies populated with monsters. What was yours?"

Vincent dodged his gaze. "To kill every living thing on this planet."

Sephiroth snorted. "That came later, much later. Why were you originally kept alive?"

"I don't know. I…I never found out why."

The dark angel nodded. "Yes, because you escaped before he was done with you." He tilted his head to the side. "Did you never wonder why you were the only prisoner that got out of the Nibelheim lab alive? It was completely destroyed immediately after."

Vincent frowned. _It was?_ He remembered breaking out of the liquid tank, and he remembered the woman…. He shook his head. Those memories were all a jumbled nightmarish mishmash that had ended in another lab table, and then a tomb.

"You escaped because someone shut down the grid that sealed your tank." His brows lifted and he smiled. "Just yours; and then that same someone activated the lab's self-destruct."

Vincent stared at him. His heart thumped hard in his chest. He didn't even want to consider what that might mean. He shook his head. "I don't…"

Sephiroth's brows rose. "You don't remember? Do you remember who was in the only other tank in your cell?"

Vincent shook his head. "It was empty."

"Not always."

Vincent folded his arms across his chest and continued to shake his head. "Empty. It was empty." Visceral memories crashed into his mind; of liquid moving painfully slowly in, and then out of his lungs, of floating in absolute silence with the weight of the mountain overhead pressing against his heart. His hands closed into tight fists, and his eyes closed tight. For an eternity, the only thing to look at through the liquid's red haze had been mortared cinderblock walls, and the copper and steel tank directly across from his. He fought for calm to keep the trembling from his voice. "It was empty."

Hands closed around his upper arms, the long nails digging into his flesh.

Vincent jolted and opened his eyes.

Sephiroth's cat-green gaze locked onto Vincent's. "Not always." His fingers tightened. "Who shared your cell, Vincent? Say it."

Memory spilled into his mind bleeding pain, and grief, and loneliness. A child floated in the eerie green fluid of the other liquid tank. A young boy so beautifully formed it hurt to look at him, robed in long silver hair and bearing wings that were only visible to his other eye. A boy that smiled. Resentment, betrayal, and guilt knotted in an angry boiling mass that sought to crush his heart.

The scream exploded out of Vincent. "You left me!"

The dark angel that haunted his worst nightmares closed him in a powerful embrace. "I came back."

Tears spilled down Vincent's cheeks even as a hideous calm washed through him. When he spoke his voice was perfectly even. "You couldn't have, you would have only been a child."

"I _was_ a child." He snorted. "It wasn't that hard to hit a few buttons." He rolled his eyes. "However, it was your own stupid fault that you were recaptured by that…woman. You should have left when you had the chance."

Vincent shoved back and out of the embrace. "There was something I had to do." There was something he had to know, and she'd had the answers. Pain stabbed through his heart. His thoughts shied away from what he had discovered. He hadn't liked the answers at all.

He shook he head and took a deep breath. That story was over, dead, nothing but dust… He was all that was left from the sordid nightmare that had very nearly consumed the world. Himself, and Sephiroth – the child he hadn't been able to save from the horrific future that had awaited him.

He hadn't even been able to save himself.

The cool and familiar emptiness spilled back into his heart. Vincent looked up at the tall silver haired dark angel. "When I finally found you as an adult, you were a psychopathic monstrosity. I did my damnedest to hunt you down and destroy you."

Sephiroth sighed, but didn't reach for him again. "Correct. By the time you saw me again, my body was completely ruled by the insanity Hojo had implanted in it, one mako-poisoned organ at a time. All that was left of me was just enough memory to bring on the destruction of everything, and everyone I'd ever cared for in my lifetime."

"Your _body_?" Vincent froze where he stood. "What exactly, are you saying?"

The dark angel snorted. "I'm saying that by then, my soul had been quite literally shoved out and replaced by the planet-killing madness known as Jenova. I was a phantom dwelling on the edge of the life-stream long before my life actually ended."

Vincent frowned. "And this reunion…?"

"That had nothing to do with me." Sephiroth turned away. "Jenova meant it literally. She was trying to reunite all the scattered parts of herself, by grafting what she could find into my body. Hojo's DNA enhancements had made me a perfect incubation tank, a storage unit so to speak, to rebuild herself within, and she damned near succeeded." He sighed heavily. "Despite all my efforts to hide the damned pieces."

"Hide the pieces…?" Vincent shook his head. "Wait, are you saying that there were two of you all along?"

Sephiroth snorted. "My, we're a little slow on the uptake today." His voice was very dry. "I believe I just finished saying that I was a phantom?" He waved a hand and shrugged. "Of course back then, I was extremely limited in how long I could hold a corporeal enough form to actually do anything."

Vincent's heart began beating fast. Seemingly impossible sightings and strange incidents during the nearly planet-wide man-hunt began to fall into place. "You were never insane, your body was…"

"Exactly."

Vincent scowled. "This sounds a little too…"

Sephiroth turned to him, his brows raised. "Crazy?"

Vincent's jaw tightened. "Convenient."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Vincent, you saw me as a ghost several times during your 'kill the madman and save the world' pursuit."

Vincent drew in a deep breath and reached for calm. "All right, I'll admit that there might have been two of you running around, one a little less destructive than the other. However, neither of you were helpful in any way, shape, or form."

"Of course not!" The dark angel's wings lifted in clear annoyance. "You and your little pack of do-gooders kept getting in the way!"

Vincent bared his teeth. "Getting in the way of what? What were you, as a ghost, trying to do?"

"Oh please, what did you think I was doing?" Sephiroth crossed his arms and scowled ferociously. "I was trying to get my damned body back before some idiot destroyed it!"

Vincent blinked then clenched his jaw. "Why didn't you say something?"

"To whom?" The dark angel smiled grimly. "Would any of you have held off from trying to destroy me long enough to get a word out?"

Vincent winced. "Probably not." He threw out a hand. "But you could have tried!"

Sephiroth turned away and released a long breath. "Back then, I didn't have the time to waste on lengthy explanations that wouldn't have been believed anyway."

Vincent shook his head. "But all that is over now. Why are you still wandering around?" Why haven't you accepted your death and moved on?

"I should think that would be obvious." The dark angel threw out his arms and bellowed at the sky. "I want to live!"

Vincent's blood ran cold. "Your body is gone."

Sephiroth nodded. "Correct." He turned and smiled, showing all his long teeth. "And that's why I need you."

Vincent stiffened. "What?"

"You are going to find me a new body."

"I'm…what?" Vincent's heart slammed in his chest. "No."

The dark angel stalked toward Vincent. "You're going to use your unique hunting skills to find someone of my actual bloodline…"

Vincent backed away from him, sliding along the wall. "I said, no."

Sephiroth tapped his chin thoughtfully "Preferably without any Jenova-tainted embellishments."

Vincent kept backing away. "I will not!"

Sephiroth kept approaching. "Someone that's still fairly young, so that the body can be trained properly for combat…"

"Are you even listening to me?"

"…And you will bring them to me."

Vincent stopped cold, squared his stance and balled his right fist. "There is no way in hell I'm gonna…!"

Sephiroth's wings spread. "Hell is precisely why you will do it, or should I say…?" And then he spoke a name.

Shock nearly stopped Vincent's heart. A black vibration spilled up Vincent's spine and he shuddered. He gasped and clenched his jaw to keep from moaning. How the hell did Sephiroth know that name?

"…_Hojo made you specifically to serve me."_

Gaia help him, what if it was true? Jagged black marks appeared on the skin over his heart and spilled outward, cascading down his bare belly and arms, but the black lightning that heralded his change didn't appear. His darker half was stirring, but not with any real power. Suddenly he was very glad his energy level was so low. It was possible he didn't have the strength for his beast to actually break free.

The darker half of Vincent's soul opened its scarlet eye on Vincent's brow showing him the world in streams of pixilated colors and lights. It knew its name, and it knew precisely who had called it.

Sephiroth was a shimmer of silver and violet, with neon green eyes, dark blue-violet wings and a halo of blood-tinted purple flames. The dark angel nodded. "There you are, my pet."

Vincent shuddered under its vision. "Why…?" On the very verge of transformation, he could barely speak past the trembling. "Why… me?"

"Why you? Obviously because I have no other option." He took a deep breath and lifted his chin. "Vincent Valentine…" His voice was calm, cold and as merciless as the edge of his sword. "You will do as I bid because if I must ask you a second time, it will not be you I ask." Sephiroth's green eyes narrowed. "Is this understood?"

Vincent's heart burned in icy rage. He couldn't say 'no', but he wouldn't say 'yes' either. "I understand."

"…_Hojo made you specifically to serve me."_

Vincent understood perfectly.

Sephiroth nodded. "Excellent." He reached out his hand and brushed his pale cool fingers against Vincent's brow. "You may go back to sleep my pet."

The shifting darkness within Vincent's body submerged leaving Vincent panting for breath and shaken to the core. It had obeyed. Icy anger washed through him. "If Hojo…gave you that name, why didn't you use it before?"

Sephiroth reached out and cupped Vincent's face. "It wasn't me that wanted the world to end, remember?" His form abruptly faded to transparency, and then he vanished.

As soon as Vincent regained full control over his trembling body and shaken mind, he fled the tree. _Damn you…_ Why was it that every answer he got only bred more questions?


	3. Chapter 3

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning:**_**Rated M** - _Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence_  
_**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

* * *

**Three**

* * *

The sun climbed higher and the shadows thinned. Vincent was forced to look for shelter from the brightening sunlight, but he wasn't about to return to the gazebo. Flitting from shadow to shadow, he investigated the vine-coated empty buildings looking for a room without windows, while his thoughts churned looking for a solution to his dilemma.

In one of the smaller buildings he found a stair leading down to a small windowless cellar. It was cool and dry with no trace of rodents. He sat down in the darkest corner facing the stairs with his knees up and his back against the wall.

No matter how he scoured his mind, he couldn't think of a way out of his…mission. He was trapped. If Sephiroth chose to invoke that name while he was with Cloud and company, or worse, in a completely defenseless town, the destruction he could cause was too monstrous to think about.

The only loophole he could find in the demonic angel's plan was that he wanted someone of his original bloodline. He knew for a fact that Sephiroth had no direct siblings, and he was pretty sure he'd never succeeded in fathering any children. Hojo might still have another one of his clones sealed in a tank somewhere, but Sephiroth had said that he didn't want anyone Jenova tainted either. This also ruled out Cloud, thank Gaia for minor miracles.

Vincent smiled sourly. Perhaps Sephiroth had defeated himself in his own request? With that comforting thought, he slid into sleep.

-VV-

Vincent's unquiet soul awoke and uncoiled within the sleeping body it inhabited. Food was near and it was very, very hungry.

-VV-

Vincent awoke standing in the doorway of the abandoned building. The night was ablaze with the descending curtains of a bright green aurora. A life-stream flow was spilling across the island coating the trees and flowers with the ethereal glow of life itself.

Vincent tottered out onto the grass and into the green light. His skin warmed deliciously under the fall of raw power. His body ravenously drank in the elemental energy until his blood sang with fire. His tense muscle relaxed all at once and his knees gave out. He sprawled on his back under the glowing curtains of aetheric life. It was so pure, so strong… His sight slipped out of focus, everything melding into a bright green haze. His thoughts scattered.

A long cool winged shadow spilled across him. "There you are." The shadow knelt at Vincent's side. "Vincent?"

Vincent blinked. The pale handsome face leaning so close to his was difficult to focus on through the emerald glare, but it was clearly frowning.

"Your eyes… They're glowing green." The frown deepened. "No, they're merely dilated all the way open and reflecting the light." A cool hand brushed his brow. "Vincent can you hear me?"

Vincent could hear him just fine, but his thoughts simply wouldn't hold together long enough to form a reply.

The shadow snorted. "I thought this might happen." He leaned down and slid his arms under Vincent's limp body. "At night, the island drifts close to the life-steam. At this elevation, the flow here is far richer than what you are used to." He rose from his knees and stood, lifting Vincent without effort. "I suppose I could have warned you about the possibility of power intoxication." The shadow chuckled. "But why waste such a perfect opportunity?" The chuckle deepened into a rich rolling laugh. He strode forth with Vincent curled in his embrace, too dazed to make even the smallest protest.

-VV-

The tide of green power humming in Vincent's blood was supplanted by a purely physical tide rising to engulf it – ecstasy. The green haze ebbed back, allowing his mind to surface. His gaze focused on the familiar arching ceiling above him, but his body was focused on something else entirely.

Hot wet suction was being voraciously applied to his dick.

Vincent shuddered in shock. His toes curled and his back arched in pure reflex. A deep guttural moan escaped his throat. His right hand clutched silk. Only it wasn't silk, it was hair; long silver hair attached to the naked form of a winged man sprawled face first between Vincent's raised knees. A hot hand held his risen flesh firmly for the hotter mouth that descended and rose on it.

Sephiroth was sucking his dick? He blinked to clear his vision, but it remained unchanged. A hot tongue lashed along the bottom of his shaft. His balls tightened and he gasped. The dark angel was not only sucking his dick, he was doing a damn fine job of it too.

The pleasure slammed him hard. He knew damned well that he should shove the man away from him, should attack, should escape, should do _something_…but he just couldn't make himself do anything at all. Pain was something he'd long become accustomed to, but it had been so long since he'd felt physical pleasure, he was quite literally held captive by the sensations inundating his body. His heels dug into the gold sheets and he bucked into the hot mouth that held him. He was going to cum, really soon.

The mouth pulled away only to be replaced by a wriggling tongue that focused on lashing across the engorged and very sensitive head of his cock. The sensation was so intense it practically burned.

Vincent threw his head back and a small cry escaped his lips.

The tongue slowed to long languorous swipes. "Ah, so we have finally regained our senses." The elegant head lifted, dragging a hot pink tongue along the length of Vincent shaft. The glowing green eyes were creased with humor under sardonically arched silver brows.

Vincent shuddered. His cheeks heated and his temper flared. "I'm surprised you didn't just do me while I was out of it."

"I considered it." Sephiroth's rose up on his hands and his lips curved in an insufferably satisfied smirk. "But I decided that I wanted you awake and attentive when I took you." He slowly moved up Vincent's body. Sleek muscle rippling under smooth pale skin slid between Vincent's upraised and trembling knees. "I wanted you fully aware of exactly what was being done to you, and precisely who was doing it."

Vincent stiffened. "You're a sadistic bastard, you know that?"

Poised over Vincent's body, Sephiroth's green-gold gaze focused on Vincent's. "You say that like it's a bad thing." He descended slowly, unbearably slowly, until his lips brushed Vincent's nipple.

Vincent trembled, agonizing between anticipation and terror.

A long pink tongue flicked out and lapped, swift and hard.

Vincent's nipple tightened deliciously and rose to a hard swollen point. He couldn't help but gasp. His grip tightened in Sephiroth's long silver hair, and he hated himself for it.

The dark angel moaned softly in appreciation, then bit down on the rigid flesh with his flat front teeth, his green gaze narrowing.

A bolt of fierce pleasure bloomed in Vincent's nipple and speared straight down to his painfully hard dick, making it jump. His belly muscles clenched and he curled up, grabbing onto Sephiroth's head with a guttural moan.

The dark angel wrapped an arm around Vincent's waist and proceeded to suck hard and noisily on the captured nipple encouraging Vincent's gasps. He reached up with his other hand and plucked at Vincent's other nipple with his long nails, forcing it to burning erection.

It was too much. Vincent threw himself back against the pillows moaning.

Sephiroth followed him down to take Vincent's open mouth. His tongue surged in to engage Vincent in a ferocious and breath-stealing kiss. His arm tight around Vincent, he writhed atop the smaller man, belly against belly, chest to chest, his rigid erection sliding along Vincent's.

Vincent wallowed in the decadent pleasure of skin against skin, tongue against tongue. He arched, pressing up against the cock cradled between his thighs, and moaned, begging for more, begging for release. Guilt battled selfish lust. He shouldn't want this, but he did. Blood and hell he wanted it.

Sephiroth raised his head, releasing Vincent from his kiss. He sat back on his knees and smiled with lips reddened from Vincent's kisses. With slow deliberation, he licked his index and middle fingers.

Vincent froze in alarm, then pushed up on his elbows. "What…?"

The dark angel dug his fingers into Vincent's hip holding him in place. "You want to cum, do you not?" He sucked on his two middle fingers until they dripped with saliva.

Vincent frowned. He did, but…

"So do I." He lowered his wet hand, and reached under Vincent's lifted leg to brush against the curve of his ass. "In you."

Terror washed through Vincent. "No!" He twisted hard to get away.

Sephiroth chuckled and used Vincent's momentum to flip him onto his belly. "Yes."

Vincent grabbed for the sheets but they were too loose to do any good. He couldn't kick out, Sephiroth was already between his spread thighs.

A powerful arm slid under his hips, lifting them from the mattress, forcing him up onto his splayed knees. Wet fingers slid between his ass cheeks. Fingers pressed against the tight rose of his anus.

Vincent gasped in shock and twisted to look back.

The dark angel's gaze was focused on his ass. "Push out hard, or this is going to hurt." His gaze shifted to Vincent's face and he grinned. "Unless of course you like this kind of pain?" He pressed.

The pressure against his anus was firm, but insistent. Vincent resisted the invasion instinctively. Very quickly it became a sharp ache that threatened to become real pain. "I cant…!"

"You can. Push out against me and the pain will stop."

Vincent shuddered and shook his head. "I can't…!"

The arm around his waist pulled away and a hard slap smacked sharply against Vincent's ass. "Push out!"

Vincent gasped in surprise and his body automatically relaxed. The finger slid in. He trembled with the shock of being penetrated.

The arm returned around his hips and the finger forged deeper.

His body constricted, closing tight around the invading digit. And it hurt --a lot. He bowed up, gripping the sheets, and choked back a groan. He was more than used to pain, but this was a completely different kind. It was far more…intimate.

Sephiroth snarled. "I said push out, you stubborn shit!"

Out of options, Vincent pushed out. The pain immediately retreated. He dropped down on his elbows among the sheets and a groan of relief escaped his throat.

"Much better." The finger within swirled all the way around, trailing not unpleasant tingles that developed into shivers. "Now where is that…?" The finger pressed down against something.

A brutal wave of pleasure seared right up the back of Vincent's skull making the hairs rise all over his body. His cock jumped in eagerness and liquid slid up his shaft and dribbled. He choked out a groan. It had damned near felt like an orgasm. He'd never felt anything like it.

"Ah, there it is." Sephiroth chuckled. He pressed again.

Severe delight burned all the way up Vincent's spine and then spilled through his cock, making it drip again. He gasped out a small guttural moan and shoved back, looking for more.

The dark angel obliged, stroking deeper. He added a finger while he was at it, increasing the pressure, and the intensifying the pleasure.

Vincent groaned and rocked back against the fingers pumping within him, mindless with need to feel more of that unusual intense pleasure, so unlike anything he'd ever felt. It was going to make him cum…

Sephiroth chuckled. "Such a greedy boy." He pulled his fingers free.

Trembling hard, Vincent clutched the sheets with his right hand and bit back a whimper. _Damn it!_ He was so close! Shameful as it was, he seriously considered demanding them put back in.

"Vincent."

Vincent turned to look over his shoulder.

Sephiroth was pouring some kind of viscous oil on his hand from a white plastic squeeze bottle. The cat-slits in his eyes had widened to dark pits, and his cheeks were flushed a delicate pink. Smiling, he thumbed the lid closed with a snap and tossed it on the blankets. "Lay down on your back." He reached down and smeared the thick oil up his heavy erection, and then down.

Vincent rose up on his knees and whirled to face his personal demon. Sephiroth was greasing his dick. That could only mean one thing. He swallowed hard. He could run…?

Sephiroth licked his lips. "If you run, you won't get very far." He stared pointedly down at Vincent's rather painful hard-on.

Vincent felt the heat fill his cheeks. "I don't want your dick up my ass."

Sephiroth lifted a sliver brow and the corner of his mouth kicked up. "Oh? You didn't seem to mind my fingers one bit."

Vincent wrapped his arms around his waist and looked away. He couldn't think of a thing to say.

"Vincent…" Sephiroth leaned forward on his hands, moving closer. "You can't run away from your own desires. Just accept them."

Vincent bared his long teeth at his tormentor. "I didn't have these desires before!"

"Didn't you?" The dark angel smiled and reached out to grasp Vincent's upraised knees. "You can't lie to me. You can't lie at all. You never could." He tugged and Vincent's knees parted. "You may have learned to hold your tongue, but that doesn't change the fact that when you respond to a direct question you will always answer with the truth." He moved forward, sliding between Vincent's knees his hands framing Vincent's body. "You have always been truthful. You will always be truthful."

Vincent fell back among the sheets, powerless to stop his own trembling submission.

Sephiroth rose over him his lips curved in a smile that held far too many long teeth. "You've lusted for me since the first moment you saw me in the tank across from yours. I knew it then, I know it now."

Vincent looked away, scowling. "I do not lust after children."

"I'm not a child anymore."

Vincent glanced at him. No, this was no child.

"You want me." Sephiroth leaned down, his belly and his erection brushing against Vincent. The heat of his body rolled across Vincent's skin. "Admit it."

Vincent shuddered and bit down on his lip. He did. Gaia help him, he did want him. He was shaking with want for this demonic creature, but he was the enemy. Vincent turned away.

Sephiroth grabbed his chin and snarled in his face. "Say it, damn you!"

Vincent snarled right back. "I won't!"

Sephiroth lunged forward, his fingers digging in to Vincent's shoulders, shoving him down to take Vincent's mouth in a brutal kiss.

Vincent couldn't help but parry the tongue invading his mouth.

Sephiroth pulled back and licked his lips. "Fine. If I can't get the words out of your mouth…" He caught Vincent around the thigh and pushed, forcing the knee up high. "I'll fuck them out of your body." He reached back to grasp his own cock.

Vincent jerked. "What…?" He shifted to move away but Sephiroth was already between his legs. Something thick and hot pressed against his anus, and shoved, hard. Vincent tensed against the invasion. The pain was sharp and immediate. A gasp was torn from his throat.

Sephiroth leaned over him scowling, his cheeks flagged with deep pink. "Push out, you stubborn bastard!" He pushed Vincent's knee higher and shoved harder.

Vincent arched his back and pushed out, just to stop the pain. His body opened. A hard, hot, and thick weight entered his ass, and forged deep. A low guttural cry escaped his throat.

Sephiroth propped both arms under Vincent's legs, shoving them forward as he leaned into the man under him. His eyes closed and he groaned. "So fucking tight!"

Vincent grabbed the sheets under him, groaning with the rigid weight of the cock spreading and filling his ass.

Staring straight into Vincent's eyes, the dark angel licked his lips. "Whether you choose to admit it, your body is mine, and we both know it." He arched, pulling his cock back, then flexed surging back in hard enough to slap sharply against Vincent's ass.

Vincent gasped more from surprise than pain. The fullness was far from comfortable, but it wasn't unendurable. It was however, painfully mortifying.

Sephiroth rolled his hips and struck against something deep in Vincent's ass.

Pleasure pressed hard behind Vincent's balls and jolted him all the way up the back of his skull. Vincent shuddered hard and cried out.

The dark angel grinned. "Oh yeah, I got it now." He thrust again, only this time he made sure to strike that spot in passing.

Cruel delight speared through Vincent and he cried out again, completely unable to stop himself.

Grunting, the dark angel took him, and took him, with long fierce strokes. Each thrust struck in passing that violently delicious place, hammering the cries from Vincent's throat.

The pleasure intensified within Vincent, building toward a ferocious crescendo that threatened to swallow him whole. He reached up and clutched at Sephiroth's shoulders, hanging on for no reason that he could name. Tears streaked down his cheeks. He couldn't stop them any more than he could stop his hoarse cries.

"Yes." The midnight velvet voice brushed against Vincent's ear. "That's it." He groaned. "Show me how much you want me." He reached down, between their bodies to grasp Vincent's cock, and stroked in time with his thrusts. "Cum for me, Vincent." His hand was hard and merciless. "Cum now."

Vincent couldn't hold out against the voice, the hands, or the shaft pumping into him. Climax exploded, wringing a howl from his throat. He shuddered under the onslaught of searing delight that blazed through him and out of him, spattering both their bellies with jets of hot thick fluid.

The dark angel flashed a grin, closed his eyes, thrust, thrust again, shuddered, and sighed.

Vincent gasped for breath, his mind washed clean of every thought, and yet there was no mistaking the cock flexing within him, filling him with another man's cum.

The beast sharing Vincent's soul stirred. Black streaks appeared all along Vincent's skin. Vincent's third eye opened showing Sephiroth in shades of iridescence with a blood-purple halo and blue-violet wings.

The beast inhaled, savoring the orgasmic life-force pumping into its body. It didn't care that Vincent had been taken by another man. It only cared that orgasm had been achieved and food had been delivered.

Vincent arched and moaned. Energy blazed through him, revitalizing the wings that had been dormant against his back. His left hand burned with vibrancy, blackening the edges of the wrappings.

Sated, the beast slipped back under, and the jagged stripes disappeared leaving Vincent pale and shaken among the sheets with cum spattered all over his belly and between his thighs.

Vincent rolled onto his side trembling with spent passion.

Arms closed around him from behind, pulling him back against a warm chest. "Sleep, Vincent." The sheet was drawn up and a kiss was pressed to his shoulder. "Don't think about it, just go to sleep."

Vincent closed his eyes but there was no escaping his thoughts. He had been well and truly fucked. And he'd enjoyed it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning:**_**Rated M** - _Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence_  
_**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

* * *

**Four**

* * *

Vincent awoke moaning. He was on his side with his back up against a warm firm body. A body with a hard-on pressing between the cheeks of his ass. A hot hand was slowly stroking his cock to painful hardness while long teeth nibbled at the back of his neck right at the edge of his hairline.

"Ah, you're awake." The voice was deep, velvety and amused.

Vincent shoved away, dropping onto his belly. "What the…?" He turned to stare.

Lounging on his side, Sephiroth's cat-green gaze and amused smirk was less than a kiss away. "My, my… You look awfully surprised."

Vincent turned his back to his tormentor and pushed to sit up. He'd regained a good portion of his energy. He had his wings back, he could feel them though they weren't visible. Not a big deal. They normally weren't visible. Out of sheer habit, he kept them tightly folded down against his spine. "You got what you wanted from me." He winced. Damn it, his ass _hurt!_ "So, leave me the hell alone!" Moisture slicked the cheeks of his butt. He closed his eyes and felt his face heat ferociously.

"If you are referring to your ass…" Serpent quick, he grabbed Vincent, locking his arms around the smaller man's waist. "On the contrary…" He pulled hard, lifting Vincent bodily and then twisted and pushed, shoving Vincent belly down among the sheets. "I've only begun to get what I want from you."

Vincent pushed up on his hands and snarled. "What the hell are you doing?" The hair at the base of his neck was grabbed and pulled until his head was tilted back. His back arched sharply until he was up on his elbows. He gasped, more in surprise than pain. It didn't actually hurt. In fact, it was more than a little exciting. His face heated even more. What the hell kind of kinky pervert was he turning into?

"What do I want? Isn't it obvious?" Sephiroth hooked his arm under Vincent's hips and pulled, bringing him up on his knees. "I want to fuck you."

"Again? Right now?" Vincent felt two long fingers slide down the seam of his ass. He shivered hard. "Couldn't you wait 'til tomorrow, or something?" Couldn't he wait until Vincent had at least had a bath? He stank of sour sweat, and spent sex.

"What for? We don't actually need recovery time. It's not as if either of us is human."

Vincent flinched. _Blood and hell, there was no need to rub it in!_ The fingers pressed against Vincent's anus, and abruptly slid in without any resistance what so ever. Vincent felt a stab of shame and winced.

The dark angel chuckled. "Oh yeah, you're wide open now."

Vincent bit back a mortified groan. He honestly hadn't thought his face could get any hotter.

Sephiroth swirled his fingers around within, drawing shivers that raised the hair all over Vincent's body. "Mmm, you're still full, dripping in fact."

Vincent started in shock, then grabbed the wrist gripping his hair. "Bastard!" He couldn't get his hand at the right angle to loosen the fingers knotted in his hair. "Let go of me, I've had enough!"

Sephiroth tugged on Vincent's hair giving his head a shake, and shoved Vincent's hand back down. "Calm down. Because you're so wet in there, this is going to feel a lot better than the last time. No friction what so ever."

Vincent growled. "Says you."

"Oh absolutely." The chuckle was deep and velvety. "It's going to feel much better for me too." He shoved, pressing Vincent's head down among the pillows, while leaving his ass up.

Vincent gasped and grabbed for the sheets with his right hand, the fingers of his left still didn't want to work properly. _Again, he was doing it again…_!

A hot thickness pressed against his anus for only a moment then it started sliding in, and in… There was a small bit of sting but it was barely noticeable beyond the rigid heat filling him. He took in a deep breath to hide the moan threatening to escape.

Sephiroth groaned with obvious pleasure. "Oh yeah, no friction, but still snug." His hips made contact with Vincent's ass. "There, all in." He dropped over Vincent's back, setting a palm on the mattress, and nestling right between Vincent's wings.

Vincent shuddered under him. _So tight, so full, so hot, so…good._ He choked on his own thoughts. Some depraved part of him was perfectly happy to be fucked – and it wasn't his beast.

Sephiroth pressed a kiss to the back of Vincent's neck. "Ah, your wings are back. I can't see them, but I can definitely feel them." The dark angel lifted a hand and trailed his fingers along the folds of Vincent's left wing. "No feathers." He traced the delicately arching bones. "Not like mine at all. You have the elbow that folds down and then up like mine, but it ends in five long bones jointed together. Mine only has one. Yours feels like its built like an arm, ending in a hand." His palm slid down Vincent's left shoulder exploring the tightly folded wing. "How do you get them to fold up so small? They reach your ass, but barely extend past the width of your shoulders."

Vincent shivered and writhed. No one had ever touched his wings before. But then, no one knew they were there. "Damn it, stop touching them!"

The dark angel chuckled, his voice dark and velvety. "Are we sensitive?"

Vincent growled and bared his teeth. "Shut up, and leave my wings alone!"

"I'll take that as a yes." Sephiroth chuckled, deep and low. "Or is it that we're getting impatient?" He rolled his hips. His cock pressed then rubbed against that spot deep in Vincent's ass.

Hot fierce pleasure throbbed at the base of Vincent's cock, making it drip, and then washed up Vincent's spine delivering fine shivers. A moan escaped his throat.

Sephiroth chuckled. "I think you liked that."

Painfully embarrassed by his body's traitorous response, Vincent's temper flared. "Fuck you!"

"I'd rather…" Sephiroth pulled back, withdrawing slowly. "Fuck you." He slammed back in with a grunt, striking that delicious spot within Vincent perfectly.

Pleasure slammed Vincent so hard he cried out, and shamelessly writhed to make it last.

The dark angel stroked the side of Vincent's throat with his long tongue. His voice purred directly into Vincent's ear. "I'd say you definitely liked that."

Vincent tucked his head away from that tongue, and that voice, clenching his teeth to keep from answering. He did like it. It had felt incredible, so incredible he couldn't help but hunger for more.

Sephiroth grabbed his hair and pulled his head back up. "Oh, don't be shy." His tongue swept along Vincent's jaw. "It's only pleasure. Just enjoy it."

Vincent turned his head as far as he could to look back at his tormentor, and spoke through his bared fangs. "I don't want to enjoy anything with you!"

The dark angel's green eyes narrowed and his mouth tightened. "Well, that's just too damned bad." He released Vincent's hair to dig his long nails into Vincent's shoulder. He pulled back and slammed in, hitting that exquisite spot perfectly.

Carnal delight seared Vincent in the balls, arching his spine and forcing a guttural cry from his throat.

"By the time I'm finished with you…" The dark angel rolled his hips, grinding deep. "You'll be so addicted to me…" He reached under to grasp Vincent's violently hard and dripping cock. "You won't be able to _think_ my name without getting a hard-on." He thrust with power, then again, and again, stroking Vincent's cock in time to his hard merciless thrusts.

Vincent shuddered and gasped under the onslaught of wave after wave of ruthless and pitiless ecstasy, very much afraid that his words were already true.

Sephiroth groaned. "Damn, you feel good." His thrusts increased in speed and power. His hips struck Vincent's ass with loud sharp smacks. His hand tightened on Vincent's rigid flesh, stroking it from the very base at his balls to the edge of the flared and steadily dripping head.

Unable to resist the skillful and determined carnal assault, Vincent succumbed to his body's ravenous hunger and shoved back against Sephiroth's driving thrusts.

"Oh yeah…" Sephiroth groaned in obvious pleasure. "That's much better."

Climax rose and knotted tight in Vincent's balls. He thrust back harder. The sound of flesh striking flesh punctuated his gasping cries. He was almost there.

"Enough." Sephiroth closed both arms tight around Vincent and pushed forcing him down onto the sheets. "Enough, Vincent."

"No! Don't stop!" Vincent snarled in frustration and fought the arms that held him, too far gone to even consider what he was saying.

Sephiroth grabbed Vincent's long black hair and jerked his head back. His lips pressed against the shell of Vincent's delicately pointed ear. "Do you want to cum?"

Vincent stilled, torn. He shouldn't. He shouldn't want this…this vile pleasure. But he did. Tears streaked down his cheeks and he closed his eyes. "Yes."

Sephiroth nodded. "All right." He released Vincent and sat up.

Vincent rose up on his knees and turned, trembling with lecherous desperation.

The dark angel spread out his wings and reclined back among the sheets, stretching out in a fine display of sleek muscle. His long mane of silver hair spilled down the sides of the round bed. He held out his hand. "Come here."

Vincent's heart slammed in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to escape this nightmare of carnal sin, but his body wanted nothing more than to give in to it. He crawled across the sheets to the hand offered, and took it with his right hand.

Sephiroth smiled and tugged on Vincent's hand. "Is sex with me really so terrible?"

Vincent knelt at his tormentor's side and looked away. His gaze locked on the rigid curve of Sephiroth's cock, and his own cock throbbed. He wanted it, Sephiroth's cock, back in his body. He closed his eyes and a small groan escaped. "You are the world's greatest calamity." He opened his eyes to look down at the carved beauty of Sephiroth's face. His cat green eyes were dilated open, and the lips unsmiling. "Doing anything for you goes against everything I believe in."

Sephiroth sighed. "I told you before, the man who sought the world's end was not me. That was Jenova wearing my body." He sighed and lifted his other hand to scrub at his eyes. "Vincent, I need you. Please, stop fighting me."

Vincent curled his lip baring a long tooth. "Stealing someone else's body is wrong."

"Do you honestly think I don't know that?" Sephiroth scowled up at Vincent. "Believe me, I know better than anyone just how wrong it truly is, but I don't have a choice, I must live!"

"Why?" Vincent dug his nails into Sephiroth's palm. "Why should you get to live again when others…" The sweetly smiling face of a dark-haired girl holding an armful of flowers flashed across Vincent's memory. His heart twisted hard. "When others do not."

Sephiroth looked up at the curving ceiling. "Just as I survived dissolution in the life-stream…" He turned to frown at Vincent. "I strongly suspect that Jenova will also find a way to survive."

Vincent stilled. The planet-killing nightmare…again? His fingers tightened on Sephiroth's hand. "Blood and hell, is that really possible?"

The dark angel pushed to sit up next to Vincent with his knees crossed. "I am very strong, or I would not be here now." He turned to face Vincent. "But Jenova is stronger, or I would not have lost my body to it to begin with."

Vincent hunched his shoulders "I can't…" He shook his head. "I_ can't_ believe this."

"Believe it. There is already something moving in the life-stream that doesn't belong, that won't belong, and it feels far too familiar for my personal comfort." Sephiroth cupped Vincent's chin, forcing him to meet his cat-green gaze. "I may be your personal nightmare, but Jenova is mine. When that monstrosity rises again, I have to be there. For that I need a body, Vincent, one that can be trained in time to defeat it."

Vincent shook his chin from Sephiroth's palm. "We tried everything, everything…" Memories of never-ending battles slashed across his inner vision. He closed his eyes and forced it away. "And we failed." He opened his eyes and narrowed his gaze at Sephiroth. "It took the planet itself to defeat it."

Sephiroth smiled. "I am an extension of the life-stream, the soul of the planet, right now. That won't change when I step into a new body. If I call, it will come."

"The planet will come when you call?" Sour humor brought a crooked smile to Vincent's lips. "That's quite an ego you have there."

Sephiroth smiled just as crookedly. "I earned every bit of it the hard way too."

Vincent lifted his brows. "You're saying you deserve your ego?"

"Absolutely." Sephiroth grinned. "It's part of my charm."

Vincent choked on a laugh. "You have charm?"

Sephiroth stilled utterly his eyes going wide.

Vincent stilled. "What…?"

Sephiroth reached out and grabbed the back of Vincent's head bringing their mouths together for a hard kiss.

Vincent jolted in surprise. _What the…?_ A hot velvety tongue swept into his open mouth to stroke across his. Unholy lust arose with savage intensity. He grabbed on to Sephiroth's broad shoulders, shamelessly sucking on the tongue that sought to tame his.

Powerful arms closed around Vincent and pulled him down.

Vincent sprawled across the broad chest under him. He pulled his mouth away, startled.

Sephiroth grabbed Vincent's thigh and tugged it over him until Vincent straddled his hips. "Ride me."

Vincent frowned. "What…?"

Sephiroth reached up to cup his cheek. "Take me into your body and ride me. I want to watch you cum."

Vincent's cheeks flushed with heat. Sephiroth wanted him to sit on him? He scowled. "I'm not a girl!"

"I never said you were!" Sephiroth grabbed Vincent's left upper arm with one hand and pushed up on the other elbow. "You and your damned shyness." In one swift smooth motion, he sat up with Vincent in his lap. He closed one arm around Vincent and crossed his legs under them. "Apparently I have to teach you everything!"

Vincent shoved at Sephiroth's arm. "This is a girl's position!"

Sephiroth brought his face close to Vincent's. "It's a position where my dick goes in your ass. Get over it." He tightened his hold around Vincent, lifting him, and reached under. "Stubborn shit…"

Vincent felt the hot brand of Sephiroth's cock centering on his anus. "Wait…!"

"No." The demonic angel relaxed his arm.

Vincent slid down. The broad hot length of Sephiroth's cock surged up into him, impaling him between one breath and the next. Vincent threw back his head and shouted in sheer shock. It hadn't actually hurt, but it had surprised the hell out of him.

Sephiroth leaned forward, tipping Vincent back against his arm. He dropped his head and captured one of Vincent's nipples with his lips, and then his teeth. He tugged, then licked.

Bolts of erotic fire seared Vincent all the way to his balls. He gasped and grabbed onto Sephiroth's shoulders, twisting in pure reaction. The cock in his ass shifted and pressed against something. Exquisite heat clenched in his balls. Excitement surged up his shaft and dripped. Vincent choked out a moan. He'd found the pleasure spot inside himself.

Vincent gripped Sephiroth's broad shoulders and rocked in the dark angel's lap, searching for it. A jolt of erotic heat flashed through him marking his success. He'd found it, but it wasn't enough. He needed to hit it harder.

Sephiroth glanced up at him briefly, flashed a smile, then turned to seek Vincent's other nipple with his teeth and tongue.

Vincent groaned, and pushed up a little with his knees. He dropped down and struck. Carnal pleasure burst in him deliciously, but it still wasn't enough. He needed to go higher, and fall faster. He rose again, pushing up a little higher.

Sephiroth's hands slid under his ass cheeks to help him rise.

Vincent was beyond caring. He just wanted to feel that hot delicious burn that would make him cum. He dropped.

Sephiroth's hands closed on his ass to help push him down hard.

Pleasure detonated. A hoarse shout exploded from his throat. That was it. He closed his eyes and pushed back up again with determined speed.

Sephiroth leaned back just a little, keeping one hand under Vincent's ass to help him lift, and grunted with each drop.

Vincent dug his nails into Sephiroth's shoulders and rode him, rising and falling at break-neck speed, impaling himself over, and over… He didn't care how loud his moans were, he was going to cum, and cum hard…

Sephiroth closed his arms around Vincent, lifting him higher, dropping him harder, his groans joining Vincent's.

"Vincent."

Vincent opened his eyes.

Sephiroth's cheeks were flushed pink, his parted lips a rosy red, and only a breath away. His green eyes had dilated wide to black orbs outlined in emerald, and they were focused on Vincent's mouth.

Vincent didn't think, he simply leaned forward and kissed the lips before him.

Sephiroth groaned and fell forward, pressing Vincent back down among the sheets, breaking the kiss.

Vincent gasped for breath, for sanity, for relief from the burning need gripping his balls.

Sephiroth grabbed Vincent behind the knee, down on his thigh, and shoved Vincent's leg up high. He surged in hard, then hammered into him, striking that hot spot perfectly with each hard thrust, over, and over, and over…

Climax rose in a screaming white hot tide. Vincent gasped out cry, after joyous cry…

A long velvety tongue, then sharp teeth pressed at the side of Vincent's throat.

Vincent's heart jumped in alarm. _He's going to…?_

The teeth sank into his throat, swift sharp burning slices.

A small whimper was surprised out of Vincent. The sudden pain sharpened the erotic pleasure waiting to burst. Climax detonated. He fell into the rapacious inferno and screamed out his ecstasy, clawing at the broad shoulders that held him down.

Sephiroth sucked greedily while thrusting hard and fast. He stilled and moaned. The hard shaft throbbed, pumping fluid deep inside Vincent's body.

The beast that shared Vincent's soul rose, drank, then submerged again. Vincent barely felt its passing.

-VV-

Vincent awoke tangled among the sheets alone. Morning pinked the floating curtains in the four archways. The dark angel was gone, leaving nothing but the scent of spent passion on the sheets.

Vincent sat up and groaned. His neck ached. He'd forgotten that Sephiroth drank blood to keep his corporeal form. He lifted a hand and brushed the side of his throat. The bite had already healed over somewhat. He could feel new scars.

The rest of his body felt like it had been beaten. Sex had a habit of doing that, especially hard sex. Vincent closed his eyes, his hands fisting in the sheets. In the end, he hadn't even tried to resist. He hadn't wanted to resist. He'd wanted Sephiroth to fuck him until he came.

And that's exactly what he'd done.

Vincent shoved the burning memories aside and rose to his feet. His knees trembled under him and moisture trickled down his thighs.

Vincent grabbed the sheet from off the floor and wrapped it around his hips. _Bath, now…_ Even if he had to heat the water himself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix **_

* * *

**Five **

* * *

Vincent was dying for a bath. He reeked of sweat, and sex -- and Sephiroth. Wearing nothing but a gold sheet knotted around his hips, he stepped away from the rumpled round bed. The tiled floor was cool under his bare feet. 

The space wasn't exactly small, the bed was pretty damned huge, but the room was little more than a domed roof and four curtained archways rather than walls. There was no other furniture, certainly nothing even resembling a facility for personal needs, such as bathing.

Vincent strode for the archway directly before him and shoved the sheer curtain aside. He stopped cold. Before him was a brokenly paved and deeply shaded walkway that led through an avenue of trees. He frowned. He didn't remember this at all.

Alarm washed through him. He didn't know where he was. He turned around and stepped back in. He strode all around the room looking through the archways until he found the overgrown path he recognized. It was directly opposite the one with all the trees.

Vincent heaved a sigh. _Okay…_ He _was_ in the same room as before. Embarrassment followed right on the heels of his relief. He hadn't bothered to explore the other doorways before. He'd been in too much of a panic to escape to bother checking his surrounding. He'd just fled through the one closest to him. He tisked. He knew better than that.

Moisture trickled down the inside of his thighs.

Vincent's face heated and he cringed. _Bloody fucking hell…! I can't take this any more._ He wanted a bath, and he wanted it now. But where the hell was the closest water source? Fuck it. He wasn't in the mood to go searching all over the island by foot when he knew how to find it in one shot.

Vincent lifted his chin and opened his third eye, the one positioned sideways just above his black brows, the one that made him a marksman that couldn't miss, the one that saw below the surface to the elemental matrix of the living and the non-living. It was the eye he hid from the world under a swathe of red fabric, just as he hid his wings under his tattered cape. It was the eye that saw the soul, the blood-tinted eye of the beast.

The world opened wide in streams of shifting colored lights all the way around, three-hundred and sixty degrees. Birds, trees, grass…all that was living, was outlined in vivid rainbow hues. He could actually see glittering green traces from where the curtains of last night's life-stream flow had brushed against the trees and the tall grass. The wind currents were marked by delicate opalescent waves. The stone walls held silver gray smudges where they had been worked by something other than nature. The earth underfoot was made of layer after layer of dark jewel tones.

There was no trace of the vibrant blood-purple and midnight-violet hues that marked Sephiroth. Apparently, he wasn't on the floating island.

Vincent felt something wrench in the region of his heart and viciously squashed it. Why should he care where that manipulative bastard was? He took a breath and shoved the rest of those thoughts aside.

Ruthlessly he focused his gaze, peering through the elements of life, and non-life. Water, he wanted water, preferably hot. Sea water was normally a glowing shift of vivid greens teeming with life. Clean drinkable water was electric blue, and hot water was pale blue and opalescent from all the oxygen moving in it.

Shifting opalescent pale green caught his eye. His breath caught. It was water, and it was hot, but mixed with traces of golden sulfur… A hot spring. _Yes!_ Vincent opened his ordinary eyes to trace where his third eye had been peering.

His inner gaze led him back through the gazebo and out along the avenue of trees. He snorted. His instincts had been right on target all along.

-VV-

Through a sculpted archway and down at the bottom of a broad curving staircase, Vincent found a deeply shadowed cave that curled with steam. The arched ceiling and irregularly curved walls were plain undressed stone. In the very center was what looked like, a natural stone pool of slightly effervescent water.

A quick look with his third eye showed that the water wasn't boiling, just bubbly from swift currents created by pressured water that had been forced through narrow passages. In fact, neither the cave, nor the pool, were natural at all. It just looked that way to the human eye. In reality the cave had been carved from the bedrock and the pool was a very cleverly made…freaking hot tub!

Vincent groaned. This was beyond perfect, it was a dream come true.

He dropped his soiled sheet and knelt at the pool's side to splash hot water across his body. After soaking himself thoroughly, he scrubbed his skin with handfuls of fine sand until he was practically raw. There just wasn't anything else to clean with, and he had no intention of fouling the water with…his filth.

Clean at last, he slid over the side and into the hot water. Heat curled up every descending centimeter of his body, burrowing into all his sore muscles. The bottom was nothing but fine hot sand that felt wonderful on his bare feet. He found a convenient submerged stone against the pool's edge and sat down, sinking into the water to his neck. It felt so damned good he moaned and let his wings unfurl under the water. With no people, and no wandering monsters to worry about, it was paradise.

Vincent laid his head back on the stone edge and snorted. Well there was one wandering monster, but hopefully Sephiroth wouldn't think to look for him way down here.

His body relaxed, but unfortunately his mind began to churn.

"…_Find me a new body…someone of my actual bloodline…" _

Vincent frowned. He'd known Sephiroth's birth mother all along, but the father…? Vincent scraped his fingers back through his long black hair. He'd asked Lucrecia more than once if it was him, but she'd insisted over and over that he wasn't the father of her child. His heart twisted, but it was an old ache. He sighed and smiled sourly. At least he wasn't committing incest…

Hojo had said that he was Sephiroth's father.

Vincent scowled. Why the hell anyone would _choose _to sleep with that vile worm…? He shook his head, shoving that cycle of thought away. He'd had asked Lucrecia if it was true, if it was Hojo, but she'd never answered him. She'd merely dropped her gaze, keeping silent. He frowned. She hadn't disagreed, but she hadn't agreed either. And yet she'd vehemently insisted that Vincent wasn't the father of her child.

His frown deepened. According to what he'd seen with his third eye, Hojo was sterile. Even though the viewing had been well after the fact, it looked like he'd been sterile for quite some time; probably from his habit of conducting experiments on himself. Vincent shook his head. He just couldn't see how Hojo could have fathered anyone without the help of a test-tube. Vincent sniggered. _And someone else's sperm._ It was almost a comforting thought.

Which brought him back to square one; if it wasn't Hojo, who was Sephiroth's biological father?

Vincent lifted his right hand and rubbed his temple. His head was starting to pound. All he had were guesses. There was no way of actually knowing. Hojo was well beyond asking, he was good and dead. Not that he would have ever admitted the truth anyway. Vincent snorted. Hell, he might not have even known whose sperm went into the test tube.

Lucrecia was dead too, though not exactly beyond asking. However, he doubted the memory she'd grafted into that computer database contained that particular piece of information. Vincent rubbed his thumb along his bottom lip. On the other hand, if it _had_ been a case of artificial insemination, Lucrecia might not have ever known who the donor was. He winced. …Only who it _wasn't_.

He sighed deeply. There was just no way of ever knowing Sephiroth's bloodline through the father.

His thoughts came to a screeching halt. His eyes opened wide. No, he'd never know the father's line, but he did know the mother's.

Vincent lowered his hand slowly and sat up on the stone. His gaze locked on the swirling steam rising from the water. He frowned, sifting through old memories of when he was still a suit-wearing Turk totally infatuated with Professor Gast's pretty lab assistant.

If he remembered correctly, Lucrecia had gotten that particular position through her family connections. In fact he was pretty sure he remembered her mentioning that it was her mother's elder brother, her uncle, who had funded her college education. Or was it her mother's sister, her aunt?

He shook his head. It was some connection through her mother. He wasn't sure which, but he distinctly remembered her saying that her first cousin had gotten her the job with Professor Gast. Her first cousin who happened to be in college preparing for the company vice presidency -- Rufus Alphonse ShinRa, the company's original vice president whom the current president had been named after.

Vincent's breath stopped. He frowned deeply. Sephiroth was a ShinRa? _No way!_ He took a slow deep breath and his brows lifted. It was possible. Sephiroth did resemble Lucrecia in the face at least, but he'd been blond since birth where Lucrecia's hair was raven-wing dark. He'd had to have come by that hair somehow.

All of a sudden the current Rufus ShinRa's personal vendetta against Sephiroth made perfect sense. Vincent snorted. _Your basic familial jealousy._ Sephiroth was older, smarter, and a freaking war hero. _Kind of hard to top all that._

Vincent sank back into the hot water and closed his eyes. So, to find someone of Sephiroth's bloodline, someone whose body he could steal, he need only look as far as the ShinRas, the ones that had funded his downward spiral into insanity to begin with.

A smile slowly bloomed on Vincent's face. _Talk about your poetic justice._

"Something amusing?" The voice was deep, velvety and completely unexpected.

Vincent jolted so hard he tried to fly backwards, his wings splashing loudly in the water. Unfortunately he only succeeded in bruising his wings against the stone back of the pool. He winced.

Sephiroth stared at him from the other side of the pool, completely naked, one leg already descending into the pool. His wings were folded but lifted behind him. Apparently he didn't like to get his feathers wet. He smiled sourly and slid into the pool with only a small slosh. "Oh come on Vincent, I am not that frightening."

Vincent scowled, seriously pissed that he'd been so out of it he'd missed Sephiroth's entrance. "Oh gee, why would anyone think you frightening? You're only the star of every world annihilation nightmare for every sentient being on the planet."

Sephiroth sat down, the water rising to his heart, and bared his teeth. "How many times do I have to tell you…?"

Vincent rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. It wasn't you, just someone wearing your body." He snorted. "Do you have any idea how difficult that's going to be to prove?"

Sephiroth carefully stretched his wings along the outer edge of the pool. "I have no intention of proving anything."

Vincent stilled. "What? Then how do you expect to…?"

"Why bother?" The dark angel smiled briefly, then leaned his head back against the pool's rim and closed his eyes. "A new body will give me a new identity. I'll simply come up through the ranks, so to speak. No one need ever know."

Vincent sank deeper into the water. "Your talents will eventually give you away. They're very distinctive."

Sephiroth chuckled. "It's highly doubtful that they'll actually suspect my true identity. They're far more likely to assume that I'm general Sephiroth's bastard son from a quick liaison."

_Bastard son…_ Vincent's jaw clenched. He'd said that so easily, even though he must have been labeled one himself as a child.

Sephiroth shrugged. "All I have to do is continue to live that person's life until I can find a way to break all ties, then go elsewhere and start anew."

Vincent frowned. If Sephiroth took over a ShinRa, especially a high-ranking well-known one, the personality change would be very obvious. Not to mention that he seriously doubted that the ShinRas would allow one of their own to simply walk away. Vincent smiled sourly. "I sincerely doubt it will be that simple."

Sephiroth groaned. "It never is." He sighed and lifted his head to smile at Vincent. "We won't know until you find me an appropriate body."

Vincent stared at Sephiroth's finely made jaw line, measuring it against what he remembered of Rufus…

The dark angel frowned. "What is it?"

Vincent blinked. "I was just…" He frowned. "Do _you_ know who your biological father was?"

Sephiroth's eyes widened briefly, then he looked away. "I was told it was Hojo, but I just can't see it…"

Vincent shook his head. "No, that impossible."

Sephiroth's turned back sharply and his brows lifted. "Oh, really?"

Vincent smiled tightly. "He was sterile."

The dark angel leaned forward and his lips curved in a smile, though his eyes narrowed. "You're sure?"

Vincent shrugged. "Pretty damned sure. From what I saw…" He lifted a hand and tapped his brow, indicating his third eye. "He'd been sterile for quite some time."

Sephiroth leaned back taking in a deep breath, then released it in a deep strong roll of laughter. "That's the best damned news I've had since…" He frowned briefly then winked at Vincent. "Since I won the Wutai War.

Vincent groaned. "Blood and hell, how do you fit that ego through doorways?"

Sephiroth lifted his hands above the water. brought them together and then parted them. "It expands and contracts, rather like a bubble." He pursed his lips. "Though I do have some difficulties squeezing it into smaller rooms…"

Vincent stared. Was that a joke at his own expense?

Sephiroth's brows came together. He waved a finger in Vincent's direction. "Vincent, your mouth is hanging open."

Vincent closed his mouth with a snap. Chuckles bubbled up unexpectedly. He raised a hand to smother them, but they escaped anyway.

Sephiroth frowned deeply. "Vincent, are you laughing?"

Vincent took in a deep steadying breath and coughed. "Who, me?" He wiped at his eyes for good measure. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Sephiroth sighed dramatically. "Pity, you have such a lovely smile."

Vincent rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, sure, if one ignores all the fangs."

Sephiroth grinned showing his own long teeth. "But, I find fangs sexy."

Vincent snorted, a smile sneaking onto his lips. "You would."

Sephiroth's grin melted into a different kind of smile altogether, and his gaze narrowed. "I do."

Vincent stiffened in instinctive alarm. His heart thumped in his chest. He turned and grabbed for the edge of the pool. It was time to go.

"Vincent."

Vincent froze.

"I brought something for you."

Vincent turned back slowly, his heart beating in his mouth.

Sephiroth moved toward him. His pale muscular chest gleamed with water droplets, each muscle defined by stark shadow. His wings were lifted high over the water and his silver hair trailed down his shoulders and across the top of the water.

Vincent's breath stilled. He was like a moving, breathing work of fine art; a painting or a sculpture done by a master. The view was quite literally stunning. And stimulating. The blood left his head to pulse far lower.

Sephiroth licked his lips, a brief flash of pink tongue, and his gaze darkened, his eyes dilating wide. "Like what you see?"

_Yes…_ Vincent's heart slammed and he jolted out of his daze. With his one good hand, he shoved against the pool's rim and propelled himself right out of the pool in a spray of water. He landed in a crouch with his wings up and ready for instant movement. He planted one hand on the floor between his knees to hide the fact that he was violently erect. _What the hell is wrong with me? _

Sephiroth's lunged straight up and out of the water, his wings spreading wide. He flapped once to add to his lift, and landed smoothly as though taking a single step, on the left-hand side of the pool. Water sluiced down his naked form. He turned his back on Vincent and casually flipped a long lock of his silver mane over his shoulder. "I brought this." The dark angel crouched down by a pile of what appeared to be leather clothes and fished through them. "I found it in what was left of Hojo's office safe." He lifted a metal cylinder from the pile of cloth and leather, and proceeded to work off the screw top lid. "It was in his private cryogenic freezer."

_A cryogenic freezer…?_ Vincent rose to his feet and stepped closer, painfully curious in spite of his blatant erection. "Is it still viable?"

"The freezer was still running, if that's what you're asking. Of course it's thawed now." Sephiroth tipped the cylinder and something slid out into his palm. "According to the label, this was taken while I was still a child." Crouched low, he turned toward Vincent and held up a thumb-thick, finger-long vial full to the brim with a thick red liquid. "According to the dates, this was taken well before he started replacing all my organs with those from that…abomination."

Vincent frowned at the vial. "Blood?"

"It certainly looks that way." Sephiroth pulled the vial back to peer at it. "I figured that the simplest way to discover a bloodline match would be with a sample of my original biological blood."

Vincent's brows lifted. That was actually a damned good idea. A DNA sample was the best way to check for a perfect match. Vincent crouched down by Sephiroth. "Let me look at it. I'll know if it's still viable enough to use."

Sephiroth obligingly held up the vial.

Vincent glanced at Sephiroth's face. His expression seemed perfectly bland. He swallowed. He didn't like revealing his third eye anymore than he liked showing his demon hand. He looked back at the vial and took a deep breath. Sephiroth had already seen his eye anyway. He closed his eyes and invoked his third eye, the one that saw on the elemental level.

The world opened wide. Sephiroth's opalescent glow was very nearly blinding. Vincent winced. "Hold it out to the side. Your body is too…bright to see anything clearly."

"Oh, my apologies." Sephiroth extended his arm to Vincent's right, holding the vial away from himself. "So, I'm bright?"

Vincent focused on the liquid in the vial. "Yeah, like a big neon sign. Your body is white, sort of. Your wings are dark violet, and your halo glows in a reddish-purple." The liquid still held light, though it was dim and sluggish. He could just make out the unique and identifying color pattern that all human blood carried. He supposed it was his way of seeing the DNA code. And something else…

"I have a halo?"

Vincent felt a smile tug at his lips. "Why do I get the feeling that I just added to your ego?" He leaned closer to the vial. There seemed to be a wave of dark violet that didn't want to mix with the rest, sort of the way oil refused to blend with water.

Sephiroth shifted slightly. His one sold wing rustling slightly. "I find it amazing that your third eye goes up and down. You'd think it would go side to side like your other two, and there's no trace of it at all when it's closed."

Vincent flinched just a little. Yeah, the up-down direction of his third eye was a bit weird. "It's not a physical eye."

"That goes without saying." Sephiroth chuckled softly. "So, what do you see?"

Vincent snorted. _Lots of pretty colors. _He sighed and leaned back, closing his eye and covering it with his hand. "I'm pretty sure I'll be able to spot a blood match." He opened his ordinary eyes to look over at Sephiroth. "The pattern is dim but it's still there, but there's something _else_ is mixed in with it."

Sephiroth snorted. "That would most likely be the Jenova strain I'd been subjected to since before birth."

Vincent nodded absently. "That's my guess."

Sephiroth nodded and pursed his lips. "So, you're saying that you'll be able to spot a match for me on sight." He fiddled with the rubber stopper on the vial.

Vincent frowned. "If I can get them to hold still long enough for a good deep look, or get a blood sample to look at, yeah."

"Excellent. However…" Sephiroth reached out serpent fast, and hooked his arm around Vincent's neck, yanking him hard against Sephiroth's chest.

Vincent choked and grabbed for the arm around his throat, his feet scrabbling under him, sliding in the soft sand. "What are you doing?"

Sephiroth whispered right up against Vincent's ear. "I figured that we'd use a more direct and accurate method."

"Direct…?"

"You are a hunter, first and foremost." Sephiroth thumbed the stopper off the vial. "Consider this the scent you must follow." He brought the vial to Vincent's lips. "Drink."

Vincent eyed the open vial with horror. "Fuck no!" He grabbed for Sephiroth's wrist holding the vial. "I'm not drinking that!" He wasn't about to drink anything tainted by Jenova.

Sephiroth pulled the vial out of Vincent's reach and tightened the arm around Vincent's throat. "I'm afraid I must insist."

Vincent choked and his eyes watered. _Can't breathe…!_ He clawed at the arm around his throat and jerked his head toward the crook of Sephiroth's elbow. With the direct pressure off his windpipe he was able to gasp in a shallow breath. _What the hell is he thinking?_

Sephiroth tisked and tightened his hold on Vincent's head, holding his pinned against his broad chest. "Why must you always fight me?"

Vincent sucked hard for breath. "Why can't you take no for an answer?" He couldn't move his head at all. The arm was rock hard and painfully tight right under his jaw. A buzzing started in his ears.

"Why can't you simply obey?" Sephiroth's voice was perfectly calm, even reasonable. "Rather than waiting for someone to hold still for a viewing, you need only bite them and taste their blood to know if you have a match."

The buzzing in Vincent's ears was getting louder. "I don't have to do it that way!"

Sephiroth sighed. "Direct sampling is a faster and more accurate method."

"Damn it!" Vincent had the strongest impression that he was beating his head against a wall. "Must you always use force?" His fingers were losing strength. He could breathe, well somewhat, so what…?

"Would you do it if I asked nicely?"

"Of course not!"

Sephiroth snorted. "Well, there you go."

"Bastard…" The buzzing became a rushing wind. Vincent felt his body weakening. He was definitely getting light-headed. _Son of a bitch! The bastard is putting pressure on my carotid arteries under my jaw. He's slowing the blood to my head!_ If the pressure kept up he was going to pass out. He groaned. "Let me go."

"All right." Sephiroth released his arm hold.

Vincent slumped to the sand barely able to think straight. "Crap…"

"Here let me help you." Sephiroth slid his arm under Vincent's shoulders and lifted him to sit in the crook of his arm.

Vincent stared up at him blearily. "Sneaky… Putting pressure on my carotids."

Sephiroth smiled. "It worked, you stopped fighting me." He turned his head and up-ended the vial of blood into his mouth.

Vincent started. "What the hell are you doing?"

Sephiroth turned back and covered Vincent's mouth with his.

_Oh shit_! Vincent clamped his lips closed. _No, no, no!_

Hard fingers dug into the pressure points at the hinge of Vincent's jaw.

Vincent moaned. The ache was brutal. His jaw popped open, and his mouth with it. Foul tasting tainted blood poured into Vincent's mouth, and half of it down his throat.

Fingers immediately pinched Vincent's nose closed, stopping his breath.

_Can't breathe!_ Vincent tried to choke but Sephiroth's mouth was glued to his. He kicked out and grabbed Sephiroth's arm, but his head was still too muzzy to fight properly. If he didn't swallow, he'd drown. His body chose for him. He swallowed.

Sephiroth immediately released Vincent's mouth from their hideous kiss. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth and down his chin.

Vincent rolled from his lap choking and came up on his knees. "Fuck, I'm gonna puke…"

Sephiroth grabbed Vincent's wrist. "Don't you dare…!" He wiped at his chin with the back of his other hand. "Though I'll admit that it wasn't pleasant tasting."

Vincent sat up and jerked his wrist away. "It was tainted!"

Sephiroth bared his teeth, his lips stained with blood. "It was mine!"

Vincent snarled and raised his wings. "It was also…!"

"_Come to mother…" _The voice was sweet, warm, and powerful.

Vincent's eyes went wide. That voice had come from inside his head. "Mother…?"

Sephiroth jerked back, his green eyes dilating wide to black pits. "What did you say?"

The beast that shared Vincent's soul awoke and snarled to the surface. Black jagged stripes appeared from under his skin. His body erupted with black lightning. The change was upon him.

Vincent howled and fled up the stairs into broad daylight.


	6. Chapter 6

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

* * *

**Six**

* * *

"Filthy beast! _Filthy BEAST!_ **_FILTHY BEAST_**!" The viciously shrill shriek gouged rotting green nails across Vincent's mind.

Infuriated, the darkness that shared Vincent's soul bellowed in horrifically thunderous reply and slashed right back with black lightning claws.

Jenova, the cancerous proto-life shrieked and swelled in twisted insanity seeking to wrap its tentacle fingers around the crackling darkness.

The equally insane acidic un-life of Chaos unraveled the grasping tendrils down to the elemental level.

Trapped between them, Vincent screamed. Bones shifted with wet aching pops, lengthening and realigning at a murderous rate. Muscle and sinew expanded at unholy speed. Bone pierced flesh becoming horns and ridges. Flesh stretched and hardened into a new and armored shape, the entire body changing from human to…other.

All three eyes wide open, Vincent tumbled into eye-searing swirling light and color. A creature made for utter darkness, he was completely blinded by the sunlight. Clawed, fanged, winged, and monstrous in size, he crashed into unseen objects, his body writhing in echo of its internal battle.

Fever raged through him, causing foam to drip from his fanged jaws and sweat to slither between the plates of his armor. Pain stabbed into every joint, and boiled in his belly.

Blindly he bolted, seeking cooling darkness, crashing into trees and trampling anything underfoot. His claws gouged deep smoking scars into the earth. His wings beat and his tail lashed, crashing into trees and stone, blindly smashing everything in its path.

His belly twisted sharply and he fell, gagging hard and violently, his entire body cramping with his efforts. Vomit spewed, redolent of sour blood and thick with things he was glad he couldn't see.

The screaming in his head stopped. Cool blessed stillness descended. He collapsed on his side in sheer exhaustion and groaned in relief.

The change came again but softly, the body melting from its monstrous form, leaving Vincent naked and panting in a tumble of shattered branches and shorn leaves. The rustling wind whispered around him. He closed his eyes and sighed. The battle was over.

"Vincent!" The voice was deep, masculine, and loud. Too loud. They were shouting. Crashing accompanied the shouts. Tree branches groaned and snapped like gunshots. "Vincent, say something damn you!"

Vincent winced and tried to ignore it. He was tired, damn it.

More crashing, more snapping, some crunching… "Vin- eh?" The crashing stopped. "Ah, fuck!" Footsteps crunched and a branch snapped right behind Vincent. "Vincent?"

He rolled away from all the noise and groaned.

"You're alive…!" Clothing rustled. Fingers traced lightly through Vincent's hair, down his shoulder to his hip. "Nothing looks broken."

Vincent moaned, lifted a hand and batted it toward the annoyance. "Leave me alone, I wanna sleep."

A blanked was draped over him and then a warm arm slid around his shoulders, another slid under his knees. "You're welcome to sleep, but not here." He was lifted and cradled against a broad warm chest, blanket and all.

Vincent opened his eyes in annoyance. He stared blearily up at the strong profile of Sephiroth then looked around. _Huh?_ What he had thought was a blanket was apparently some kind of black leather cape lined in soft wool, and he was being held…like a child. "What the hell…?" He shifted uneasily, but he was just too damned tired to make any effort beyond that. "What are you doing?"

Sephiroth snorted and took a long step over downed branches. "What does it look like? I'm carrying you."

Vincent's face heated. "Put me down! I'm not a girl, damn you!"

Sephiroth stopped and lifted a silver brow. "Can you walk?"

Vincent crossed his arms and scowled. "I don't need to walk, I can sleep right here."

Sephiroth snorted and continued, stepping past a shattered tree. "Not a good idea."

"Neither was feeding me Jenova-tainted blood!"

Sephiroth's cheeks pinked. "I'll admit that I may have underestimated your reaction to it."

"You underestimated…?" Vincent's temper flared. He grabbed a long lock of white hair and tugged on it sharply. "In case you didn't know, they had a fucking war in my head!"

Sephiroth winced. "Ow…" He jerked his head to the side, pulling his hair free. "The war wasn't just in your head."

"What?"

"Which is why it's best if I carry you." He stepped into a forest clearing that look like it had been created by a bulldozer gone insane.

Vincent stared. "Holy shit…"

Sephiroth smiled sourly at Vincent. "For once we are in complete agreement." He spread his wings and launched hard into the sky. "But wait, it gets better."

Vincent was thrown hard against Sephiroth's chest. _Crap!_ He grabbed onto Sephiroth's shoulders.

Sephiroth swooped into a long low glide. He nodded. "Look."

Vincent turned. Directly below them lay devastation. The insane bulldozer had cut a broad and incredibly crooked swathe through forest and deserted town. It looked like it had run very nearly the entire length of the huge floating island. Vincent had to forcibly close his mouth. He frowned. "I'm surprised I didn't go off the edge."

Sephiroth snorted. "You very nearly did, a few times."

"I did?" Vincent's heart thumped. That was a two kilometer drop straight down. _Crap!_ It wouldn't have killed him, he was damned near immortal, but he would have been hurting for a very, very long time. "What happened?"

Sephiroth took a deep breath and sighed it back out. "I, ah… I pushed you back from the edge with a couple of wind spells."

Vincent stared. "You did?" He couldn't have heard that right. It was a well known and heavily documented fact that Sephiroth didn't save anyone but himself. "_You_ used magic to keep me from falling over the edge?"

"I didn't know what else to use!" Sephiroth scowled. "And I wasn't sure how strong to make the spells at first. I finally ended up using very nearly hurricane force. I almost had to call on an elemental." He curled his lip. "You're extremely stubborn, you know that?"

"Wait, wait…" Vincent shoved his blowing hair out of his face. "You're saying you used your magic to _save _me?" That was not the Sephiroth he knew at all. The one he knew couldn't care less if his lackeys died. He merely replaced them.

The dark angel huffed. "Well, you had to be stopped and it was all I could think of to use at the time." He rolled his eyes. "It's so much easier to kill people, than it is to rescue them."

Vincent felt a smile creeping onto his face. "Oh, was it a new experience for you?"

Sephiroth's bared his teeth. "Shut up!"

Vincent crossed his arms. "All right, I believe you."

Sephiroth snarled. "I am not in the habit of lying!" He pointed out a mass of downed trees. "You can clearly see where your path leads to the edge and also where I drove you back."

Vincent didn't even bother to look. "That's not what I meant."

Sephiroth blinked, then frowned. "Excuse me?"

A smile curved Vincent's lips. "I am finally convinced that you are not the man that tried to kill the world."

Sephiroth's expression smoothed, neither smiling nor frowning, but his cheeks pinked. "Luckily you went in the opposite direction of where we are staying so we still have a bed to sleep on."

Vincent snorted. It was a deliberate change in subject. _Was it that embarrassing?_ "So, when do I get some clothes?"

Sephiroth lifted a silver brow and his arrogant smile returned. "I prefer you in the nude."

Vincent curled his lip. "I noticed." He sighed. "But I have to go back eventually."

Sephiroth drifted into a downward spiral. "Eventually." He landed gracefully only two steps away from the gazebo archway. He shoved through the curtains and strode for the round bed. The sheets had been changed to scarlet.

Vincent blinked. _He made the bed?_

Sephiroth let Vincent slide down onto his feet, but didn't release him from his embrace. "Can you stand?"

"Of course." He pushed back, out of the dark angel's arms. His knees shook but he stayed upright. "There, see?"

"Good." Sephiroth promptly tugged the cape from Vincent's shoulders and took two steps back.

Vincent snatched for the cape and missed. "Hey!"

"I'm going to make it shower for you." Sephiroth raised his hands. "I don't want that to get wet."

Vincent tilted his head. "Huh?"

Sephiroth snorted and began gesturing with his hands. "You're filthy. You're not getting in that bed until you're clean." He parted his hands.

Hot water sprinkled down onto Vincent's head. He blinked. "Holy crap!" He laughed and looked up. There was a small churning cloud right over his head. The water was perfect in temperature, just hot enough to loosen his muscles. "What about soap?"

Sephiroth frowned. "Hmm… Close your eyes, and keep them closed 'til I say you can open them."

Vincent closed his eyes. "Okay."

Sephiroth spoke a word.

The water striking Vincent's skin thickened. He rubbed his hands along his arms and discovered some kind of slick lotion that foamed. It smelled like…vanilla. Well, at least now he knew the secret of how Sephiroth had managed to look clean and fresh even directly after a battle. He smiled briefly. It was one of the little things that drove Cloud insane. "You are certainly versatile with your magic."

Sephiroth clapped once. The hot water returned. "Merely practical. You may open your eyes."

Vincent discovered that he was covered in liquid soap. He turned his back on Sephiroth and started scrubbing. "This has got to be the most practical application of magic I've ever seen."

Sephiroth's voice brushed against Vincent's ear. "I like to stay clean."

Vincent whirled and nearly smacked face-first into a bare-naked Sephiroth. He hadn't even heard him get undressed. He jerked back.

Sephiroth grabbed Vincent by the arms. "Don't fall over!" He smiled. "You don't mind sharing, do you?"

Vincent swallowed. "Uh, sure." He shifted, easing his arms from Sephiroth's hands. "It's your spell." He turned away and continued to scrub.

Sephiroth chuckled and water splashed.

Vincent's gaze slid to the side. Water sluiced down Sephiroth's form, defining each muscle, hollow, and plane, in gleaming rivulets. Blood and hell the man was well-made. His heart thumped and heat pooled low. He jerked his gaze away.

Sephiroth reached out and slid a hand down Vincent's spine.

Vincent jolted.

Sephiroth raised his hand, revealing that it was covered in suds and flashed a smile. "Thank you for the soap."

Vincent cleared his throat. "Yeah, sure." He turned, angling just a bit further away -- to hide his growing erection. _Damn it!_ His physical reactions to this man were getting out of hand. He scrubbed as quickly as he could, including his hair. Sephiroth had been right, he was filthy. He tilted his head back to rinse the last of the soap from his hair and sighed.

"Finished?"

Vincent nodded. "Yeah."

The water stopped.

Vincent stared at the water pooling at his feet. "I don't suppose you have any towels hidden somewhere do you?"

Sephiroth chuckled. "Close your eyes."

Vincent blinked at him. _Another spell?_ He closed his eyes. "Okay."

Sephiroth spoke yet another word.

Dry heat wrapped around Vincent in a thick warm blanket. It felt wonderful. He groaned, and scrubbed his fingers through his long wet hair. Dizziness assaulted him and he wavered on his feet.

Sephiroth clapped. The heat ended. "All right, to bed with you."

Vincent opened his eyes. "Huh?"

Sephiroth stepped behind Vincent and caught him by the shoulders. "You're practically asleep on your feet." He turned Vincent toward the bed. "Go." He pushed.

Vincent stumbled toward the bed. He wanted to protest, for appearances sake at the very least, but he couldn't think of a thing to say. He was just too damned tired. The yawn came out of nowhere. He yanked back the sheets and crawled under them. He dropped his head on the pillows and turned to look back at Sephiroth.

The dark angel already had his leather pants on and was strapping on his tall boots.

Vincent frowned. _He's getting dressed?_ The small stab of disappointment caught him completely off guard. He squashed it hard, but it refused to die completely.

Sephiroth turned to face him while buckling the over-the-shoulder cross-straps to his long coat. He stilled staring at Vincent, then grinned. "Ah, you're pouting! Shall I come to bed and comfort you?"

Vincent's face burned. He flopped onto his back to stare at the ceiling, and crossed his arms. "I am not pouting. I do not pout."

Sephiroth strode for the bed, his chuckle sounding insufferably smug. "Oh, of course not." He leaned over the bed, setting one hand on the mattress. "Sleep well." He dropped a kiss on Vincent's brow.

"Ah!" Vincent swatted at him. "Leave me in peace, you big pain in my ass!"

Sephiroth dodged away from Vincent's hand and laughed. "But I like being a pain in your ass." His voice lowered to a deep bass rumble. "It feels so good."

"Bastard!" Vincent grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

Sephiroth caught the pillow and tossed it back with a smile. "Go to sleep. Hopefully it will improve your temper!" He turned away and stepped through an archway. The sound of flapping wings was loud.

Vincent flopped back on the pillows. _Crap…_ He scrubbed his hands down his face. _Crap, crap, crap…_ Gaia help him, he was actually starting to like the big bastard. Something ached in the region of his heart. He rolled over onto his stomach and sincerely hoped the ache would go away. He was already in enough of a mess for merely liking the world's greatest calamity. He couldn't afford for the feelings to go any deeper.

He'd already had his heart ripped out once. He honestly didn't think he could handle it a second time.

-VV-

Vincent felt something big and warm shift against his right side. There was a weight pressing on his belly too. He opened his eyes to deep green shadows, not that it mattered to his night-seeing eyes.

Sephiroth was lying on his belly against Vincent's side facing away. The weight was his arm draped over Vincent's hips. His wings were outspread covering the whole bed like a strange sort of blanket. His breathing was slow and even. Apparently he was asleep.

Vincent scooted back and sat up among the pillows. Beyond the curtains, green light shimmered. Obviously it was the life-stream flow the island passed through at night, but there was also a soft hissing noise. The smell of fresh water was very strong. Vincent frowned. _Was it raining?_ He scrubbed a hand through his hair. Considering all the plant life, he supposed rain had to happen sometime.

Vincent stared down at the sleeping man next to him. It was so odd…a ghost that slept. _And had sex._ Vincent felt his cheeks heat. He raised his knees, folded his arms over top of them, and set his chin on his folded arms. "What the hell am I supposed to do about you?"

Sephiroth took a deep breath, but otherwise, didn't move. "You find me a new body and we continue as we are."

Vincent started. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. _Too late now._ He sighed. "And what exactly are we?"

Sephiroth turned his head toward Vincent and smiled. "I would think that was obvious, we're lovers."

Vincent stared, completely unable to stop the way his heart thumped, or the painful ache that came with it. His hands clenched on his knees. "Are you saying that we're fuck-buddies, or are you saying that you actually love me?" Horror overcame him. _What the fuck did I just say?_ He turned away. "Never mind." He shook his head. "Just forget it."

Sephiroth lunged over Vincent knocking him down among the pillows. He rose up on his hands, framing Vincent with his arms. His long silver hair spilled over them in a curtain of frost. He bared his teeth. "We're not fuck-buddies."

Vincent snorted. "Oh, that clears everything up."

The dark angel's cheeks pinked. "I…" He swallowed and bit down on his bottom lip. He looked down at Vincent's chest. "I have been fascinated with you since childhood, from the time I saw you in that tank across from mine. And then, when I saw you as an adult, you were so fucking sexy…" His gaze drifted over Vincent. "All that midnight hair, those crimson eyes, the way you move in battle…" He focused on Vincent's gaze. "I wanted nothing more than to get my hands on you and bury myself in your body." His arrogant smile appeared, then melted into something far less, assured. "I took you because for the first time, I had the opportunity to do so."

Vincent stared. What the hell was this? "I thought you wanted me to…?"

"Yes, yes…" Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "I do need you to find me a body, but that wasn't why I took you." His smile flashed briefly then disappeared. "I took you because I've had a hard-on for you for a very long time."

Vincent raised his brow. "Sounds like a simple case of lust to me."

Sephiroth nodded. "That's what I thought too, but then…" He glanced away and scowled. "When you very nearly went off the edge of the island…?" He shook his head. "I thought… I felt…" He took a deep breath. "I just couldn't stand the idea of you getting hurt." He winced and his cheeks flushed hot pink. He looked directly at Vincent and smiled crookedly. "Yeah, I think I'm actually in love you."

Vincent stared up at him from the pillows and felt the word turn upside down. _He loves me?_ It was a full three breaths before his brain would function. "You may not be the man who wanted to kill the world, but you _are_ insane, you know that?"

Sephiroth snorted. "The evidence is rather overwhelming." He lifted his brow. "So, how do you feel about me?"

Vincent opened his mouth, and couldn't think of a thing to say. "I, uh…"

Sephiroth's gaze narrowed. "Do you hate me?"

Vincent dodged his gaze. "I…." He closed his eyes. "No, I don't hate you."

"Good enough for me."

Vincent opened his eyes and looked up at Sephiroth. "Huh?"

Sephiroth dropped his mouth onto Vincent's and proceeded to kiss him as though starved. His hand slid under Vincent's head, tangling in Vincent's long hair to hold their mouths together. His arm closed around Vincent's waist, holding him belly to belly. Sephiroth was violently hard.

So was Vincent. He wasn't sure what had triggered it, but he was fully, and painfully erect. A groan slid out of his throat. He closed his arms around the dark angel's shoulders and parried the tongue tangling so skillfully with his. His knees spread, making room between them. He didn't think about what he was doing. He didn't _want _to think about what he was doing. He didn't want to think about anything at all.

Sephiroth groaned and slid between Vincent's thighs. He sat back on his knees, spreading Vincent wide. His nipples were very pink, and erect. He gazed down at Vincent, but didn't say anything.

Vincent didn't want him to say anything. He pushed up on his hands, sitting up practically in Sephiroth's lap, and pressed his mouth to the tight nipple before him. Against Vincent's lips, Sephiroth's heart pounded. _A ghost with a heartbeat… _He looped an arm around the dark angel's waist, holding him while he stroked the pale tight nub with his tongue. He closed his flat front teeth on the nipple and tugged lightly.

Sephiroth groaned, cupped his hand behind Vincent's head, and threw his head back, tossing all that silver hair. "Yes…!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

* * *

**Seven**

* * *

The smooth skin under Vincent's palm was warm and defined by muscle. The nipple under his lapping tongue was small and tasted of the blood just below the surface that made it rise, and blush. The thighs he straddled were hard and vibrated with tension. The arms holding him around the shoulders were punishing in strength. Groans of pleasure echoed in his ears.

Belly to belly, and seated upright on the scarlet sheets of the circular bed, Vincent arched forward, pressing his rigid erection against the hard rise of Sephiroth's equally rigid flesh. He shoved all thought aside relinquishing his hard-won self control, and gave in to his ruthless infernal appetite.

He curled his left arm around the larger man's waist. Feathers brushed his forearm. His clawed fingers dug in to the smooth flesh, but didn't pierce. Feeling had returned to his fingers. The binding that had kept his hand numb and dysfunctional had weakened considerably. A small push of power would disintegrate the binding utterly, but that wasn't what he wanted right then.

He licked along the hollow that divided Sephiroth's chest, and felt a heart beating under his tongue. His gaze drifted upward, to the pulse that throbbed in the pale throat above him. The very air tingled with the green ozone energy of the life-stream, sating the needs of his soul, but flesh had appetites too.

He reached down between their bodies with his right hand, and grasped the cock pressing against his own. Sephiroth's flesh was a smooth ivory column encased in hot silk. The flared violently blushing head was slick with excitement. Gripping it firmly, he stroked down, then up, exploring the shape and feel of a cock that wasn't his. He could feel a definite heart-beat pulse.

The dark angel frowned down at him, his silver brows dipping low. "Vincent?"

Vincent pushed up on his knees. "Shhh…" He pressed his lips to Sephiroth's mouth in a quick kiss. "Not now." He eased to his right, shifting his kiss across, and then down to explore Sephiroth's jaw. He licked along the jaw-line to an elegantly pointed ear.

Sephiroth groaned and turned his head, giving Vincent access to the side of his neck.

Vincent smiled briefly and brushed the long silver hair from the dark angel's powerful shoulder. He inhaled. Sephiroth smelled of soap, and of the musk of aroused male. He leaned close and licked along the long muscle on the side of Sephiroth's throat. Blood beat under his tongue.

While his hand continued to work the rigid cock in his palm, Vincent opened his mouth wide and closed his flat front teeth along the long muscle, nibbling and lapping, gently massaging with teeth and tongue.

Sephiroth released a soft groan. "Harder…with the teeth."

_Harder?_ Vincent opened his mouth wider. He slid his mouth along the muscle, scoring the left side of Sephiroth's throat very lightly with his fangs right over the pulse, then bit down with his flat front teeth.

The man in his arms shivered, and a low moan rumbled from his chest. "Mmm…good."

Vincent felt hot thick liquid smear his hand. He released Sephiroth's throat to look at his palm.

Sephiroth chuckled and his cheeks pinked. "Merely pre-cum. You've got me that excited."

Curiosity struck. Vincent lifted his hand and licked it, tasting the liquid smearing his palm. It was a trifle musky, a little salty, and not particularly flavorful, but not unpleasant either. The odor was light and there was no trace of bitterness from alcohol or drug use. There was however, a definite tinge of power.

Sephiroth swallowed loudly.

Vincent glanced up at him.

Sephiroth's cheeks were flushed a hot pink and was biting down on his bottom lip. His cat-green gaze was tightly focused on Vincent's hand, and tongue. The dark slits widened. He swallowed again.

Vincent knew that look. He'd worn it himself though admittedly it had been a long time ago. It was hope with a strong dash of desperation. Sephiroth clearly wanted a blow-job so bad he could taste it, but it was just as obvious that he wasn't sure how to ask for it.

Vincent felt a smile curve the corner of his mouth. It was such a strange expression to see on him, rather than his usual arrogance. It was actually kind of cute. He tilted his head. Just how desperate could he get him? There was only one way to find out.

Vincent pushed back off of Sephiroth's thighs and set his palms on the scarlet sheets. He looked up at Sephiroth, licked his lips and smiled.

Sephiroth leaned back and frowned. "Vincent?"

Vincent ducked his head low between the dark angel's spread knees, and stretched out his tongue. He licked one long swipe from the very top of Sephiroth's balls all the way to past the flared edge of the crown to the top.

Sephiroth choked and threw his head back, leaning back on his hands. "Oh fuck!"

Vincent blinked. Blood and hell, had it been that long since he'd had a blow job? He snorted. _Probably._ He gripped the cock before him and proceeded to lick every centimeter, top, bottom, sides and flared edge.

Sephiroth fisted one hand among the sheets and a low groan escaped him. He lifted the other hand and sank his fingers into Vincent's hair, but he did no more than grip it.

Vincent's brow lifted. If that was how he reacted to just a little licking…? He opened his mouth and sucked in the blushing head. Sephiroth was a big man. There was no way in hell he'd ever get the whole thing in his mouth, not without jamming it halfway down his throat too. He used both hands to grip the rest of the length.

He plunged and rose using his hands in time with his mouth to extend his reach, and sucked just enough to keep from salivating too badly. The problem was his fangs. If he wasn't careful and sucked too hard he'd score very tender flesh.

Sephiroth drew in a deep breath. His entire body went rigid and trembled. His hand tightened in Vincent's hair.

Vincent almost smiled. _I think he likes it._ He continued plunging and rising while stroking. The cock in his mouth pulsed and a small amount of liquid musk spilled onto Vincent's tongue.

Sephiroth's abruptly sat up. "Vincent, you need to stop." He tugged on Vincent's hair.

Vincent lifted his head and used one hand to wipe at the saliva sliding from the corner of his mouth. "Huh?"

Sephiroth's smile was crooked and his eyes were dilated wide. "You're very close to getting a mouthful." He raised a hand and wiped at his mouth too.

Vincent released the cock in his hand at once. "Oh…" He wiped his damp hands on the sheets and his cheeks heated fiercely. "Sorry…"

Sephiroth grinned. "I'm not." He lunged forward and closed his arms around Vincent, wrapping him in a sudden embrace. "I'm utterly delighted." He pressed his cheek to Vincent's and practically purred in Vincent's ear. "You have no idea how good it felt to have your mouth pleasuring me."

Vincent dropped his head on Sephiroth's shoulder and groaned. "Bloody fate, you don't need to comment on every little thing!"

"I can't help myself." The dark angel's hands slid down to cup Vincent's butt and a long finger explored down the seam. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed." The finger centered on Vincent's anus and pressed in small circles. His voice softened to a velvety whisper. "I just love the way you squirm."

Vincent shivered, and his cock twitched against Sephiroth's belly. "For Gaia's sake, shut up will you?"

Sephiroth chuckled softly. His hands retreated and his arms shifted. "Put your arms around my neck." There was a soft click and a liquid spurt.

Vincent turned to look behind him.

Sephiroth was squirting some kind of thick clear gel from a small plastic tube into his palm. "Merely lube. I am well aware that you can handle ungodly amounts of pain, but I would prefer if I was not the one delivering it."

Vincent swallowed, and put his arms around the dark angel's neck.

Chilly damp fingers pressed against his anus. "Open for me."

Vincent groaned and pushed out, inducing his sphincter muscles to relax.

"Excellent." The damp finger slid in and around, delivering that strange tingling sensation.

Vincent shivered. It wasn't painful, just…weird. He didn't think he'd ever get used to something jammed in his ass. He cringed. He didn't _want_ to get used to something jammed in his ass.

A second finger joined the first, slid deeper and pressed.

A jolt of erotic heat clenched at the very base of Vincent's dick. He stiffened, digging his fingers into the dark angel's shoulders. Liquid surged pleasurably upward and dripped. A moan spilled from his lips. He trembled. He didn't want to think that his body was shaking with anticipation, but he knew damned well that it was. _Why does this feel so damned good?_

Sephiroth tilted his head and sought Vincent's mouth for a slow drugging kiss. Tasting, stroking, and sucking on Vincent's tongue, nipping on his lips.

The fingers within Vincent's ass pumped, rubbing slowly back and forth against that exquisite point while encouraging his body to open wider.

Distracted by the luxurious attack on his mouth, Vincent rocked back on the fingers inside him, wanting more, wanting it harder, wanting that burning climax that he'd only ever felt this way. It was a completely different sensation from ordinary sex. It was harder, more intense, more…consuming. His moans spilled into Sephiroth's mouth.

The dark angel's kiss turned aggressive, devouring Vincent's mouth. He pressed his chest against Vincent, pressing him back, pushing him over.

Vincent's head struck the pillows. The fingers within him continued their slow torturous plunges and retreats. Ecstasy coiled forming a delicious knot right at the base of his balls; a knot that tightened slowly -- too slowly. Groaning, he arched upward, digging his heels into the sheets and shoving harder against the fingers within him.

"More?" The soft midnight whisper caressed Vincent's ear.

Vincent closed his eyes. "Yes."

The dark angel rose to kneel between Vincent's upraised knees. "Look at me."

Vincent opened his eyes.

Sephiroth's green gaze narrowed, his jaw tightened and his smile vanished. He reached down and clasped the rigid upward curve of his cock. He stroked slowly.

Vincent couldn't stop his body's shivers any more than he could stop the pulse that made his cock throb.

"Do you want me to fuck you?"

Vincent flinched. The raw statement burned across his mind, and yet his heart thumped and his body quivered in anticipation. He swallowed hard. "Yes."

Sephiroth leaned down over him, sleek warm skin and hard muscle sliding between Vincent's thighs. He braced on one elbow while holding his cock with the other. "Kiss me."

Vincent tilted his chin up and met the dark angel's lips coming down. Tongues entwined…and a thick hardness pressed against his anus. Vincent groaned, and opened. Rigid heat slick with lube slid in slowly, spreading him, and forged deeper, filling him.

Sephiroth groaned into his mouth, and shoved hard, sheathing his cock within Vincent's trembling body.

Vincent moaned and clutched at Sephiroth's neck. There was no pain, only that disquieting fullness, and heat. The cock within him was so hot.

Sephiroth slid his free arm under Vincent's thigh, raising the leg higher and turning Vincent's hips to the side. He lifted his head, breaking the kiss. His glowing cat green eyes narrowing, he pulled back, and surged in hard.

Pleasure stabbed with brutal intensity. Vincent arched and cried out.

The dark angel locked his gaze on Vincent and bared his long teeth. He pulled back slowly. "You…" He thrust brutally hard, and retreated. "…Are…" He thrust, and retreated. "…Mine." He thrust, and retreated. "Mine!" Sephiroth threw back his head and howled, hammering violently into Vincent's body.

Unable to resist, Vincent arched upward into the dark angel's thrusts, delighting in the sordid and perverse pleasure. He howled under the torrent of erotic fire.

Sephiroth dropped to take Vincent's mouth, licking stroking, devouring. His thrusts increased in speed and power.

Vincent tightened his arms around the dark angel's shoulders, his fingers clutching the fine silk of Sephiroth's long silver hair. His desperate cries were swallowed by the heated mouth that plundered his without mercy.

Climax surged with alarming speed, rising with menacing power. The rising wave built with ferocious intensity, wiping all thought from Vincent's mind.

Sephiroth pulled from the kiss and groaned. He rose up on his arms, his face a mask of intense concentration, very like pain. He stared hard at Vincent. "Fuck… I _am_ in love with you."

Vincent's heart lurched. _In love with me…?_

Sephiroth arched and groaned. "Cum for me Vincent, cum now!" He thrust hard, and deep.

As though it had been waiting, Vincent's body suddenly gave way to the tidal wave of brutal pleasure snarling for release. Climax erupted and crashed, sweeping him under its terrible and voracious glory. He shouted and came, pumping himself onto his belly and spattering the man that rode him.

The dark angel, held rigid, gasping. He collapsed on top of Vincent, holding him locked in his embrace. He thrust hard again and groaned, shuddering violently. His cock throbbed within Vincent's body.

Vincent felt the pulses that marked Sephiroth's climax. His beast rose, drank, and left with barely a whisper from its passage. Finally it was fully sated. It had finally regained its full strength.

Vincent closed his eyes and clutched the man that held him.

Sephiroth groaned and rolled to the side, pulling from Vincent's body. Liquid spilled from where their bodies had joined. In moments his breathing eased into long slow even breaths.

Vincent rose among the sheets, folding his knees under him.

The dark angel didn't stir.

Vincent lifted his bound left hand and focused on the blackened rags that had once glowed soft blue. The rags turned to ash and fell away, revealing the deep blackness and the curving claws of the hand that wasn't human. Black lightning flickered close to the surface.

He leaned over the pale still form of the man that had taken him and opened his clawed hand over his heart. One swift plunge and Sephiroth would go back to the life-stream, only this time, he wouldn't come back.

Chaos was an un-maker. It unraveled, reducing what it consumed to its base elements. His hand was not nearly so powerful. Against spells, it was a weapon of great power, but against living flesh it did no more than an ordinary clawed hand.

A heart stab to a creature made of pure energy, such as Sephiroth, would unravel the entire body matrix, and the soul inhabiting it, beyond reconstruction. Not a shred would be left for even a ghost.

Vincent stared at the sleeping profile of the man considered the world's greatest enemy, the man that had taken him, bodily and sexually, the man that had commanded him to find a new body that he might walk the earth again.

"…_I am in love with you." _

He'd said those words himself, a very long time ago. He'd even repeated them. All he'd ever gotten back was, _"I'm sorry"._ A hot tear streaked down his cheek. He closed his hand and eased back.

The sleeping man didn't move.

Vincent eased from the bed and strode on silent bare feet for the archway before him. His body ached, but he was not as weak as before. Already the aches were fading, leaving only warm echoes from the illicit pleasure. And the liquid that ran down his legs.

Outside, the night was deep and quiet. The trees and pathways glittered green from the passage of the life-stream flow, and the rain that had fallen. The sky was clear and crammed tight with stars. The breeze brushed his bare skin, fingered through his long midnight hair, and caressed his wings.

He spread his wings wide and took to the air.

Flying low out of sheer habit, he flitted, silent as an owl, past the empty buildings to the tree at the edge of the world where he had first learned that the man he had thought was the world's greatest enemy – wasn't.

Up on the low wall, he crouched down to look over the world's edge. The island was passing over land. Scattered patches of light marked sleeping towns. The pattern looked familiar.

Vincent called his darker soul to the surface. The bone jarring shift from human to night beast was smooth and swift. He shook his head, feeling the weight of his horns, and opened all three eyes to see the colors of the shifting winds below him. He spread wings a dragon would have been proud to wear.

He dropped over the edge of the world. The wind was bitterly cold but he barely felt it through his armor. He closed his eyes briefly. _I'm sorry._

-VV-

Dawn was pinking the edges of the sky when Vincent finally saw the farmhouse. His beast eyes could see a net of blue-white power crackling around the entire property. The power-limiter was back up and working.

At the edge of the power-fence, he dropped to the earth and eased back into his human form. Exhaustion drove him to his knees. The night was still, but damp and cool. There had been a rain recently. He shivered and rose to his feet. His black hand parted the curtain of energy just enough to let him pass, then reformed behind him.

Several short flitting hops took him to the house. A hard jump took him up to the ledge of his second story bedroom window. The screen had been repaired and the window closed. He smiled briefly and reached up to the top of the window frame with his human hand. His fingers encountered a slight buzz from the tiny spell he'd set into it ages ago. He invoked the small spell.

The window unlocked and slid up. The screen loosened on the bottom.

Vincent pushed under the screen, entering the room, then quietly closed the screen and the window. The room was dark with deep shadows, but it was easy to tell that everything was exactly as he had last seen it, with the addition of a fine layer of dust.

He reached under the bed and pulled out his pack. He tossed it on the bed and wrestled out a full change of clothes. With the clothes under his arm, he went into the bedroom's facility to take a long hot shower. He'd leave tomorrow. He was too tired to pull another long flight tonight. However this time he was sleeping fully dressed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters property of Square Enix**_

* * *

**Eight**

* * *

Vincent stood in the glass-walled shower and let the hot spray pound down his back. He'd soaped and scrubbed every inch of his body, even his wings, but he could still smell traces of Sephiroth on his body. He could still feel his touch as though etched into his skin. He could still feel him…inside.

The water began to cool. The old-fashioned boiler had finally run out of hot water. Vincent turned off the spray. He was as clean as soap and water could make him. He sighed and slid the shower door open. He reached for a towel and scrubbed down.

Vincent picked up his leather glove. He slid his left hand into the fine leather and smoothed the sleeve up his forearm. He flexed his fingers. It was nice having full use of his hand again. He dragged on the black y-back muscle shirt. It was one of the few shirts that would allow for his wings. He pulled on some black jockeys, then stepped into his butter soft black leather pants. He zipped the fly but left it unbuttoned at the waist. Blood and hell it felt good to be back in clothes.

He smeared the steam from the mirror on the back of the facility door. Carefully, he wound the scarlet cloth around his head to cover his brow, not bothering to move his long black hair out of the way. The cloth was to keep from accidentally frightening anyone when he invoked his beast and his third eye became visible. Oddly, because of the way his third eye perceived the world, as energy rather than matter, the eye had no problems seeing right through the cloth.

He stared at his reflection; black hair, scarlet bandana, scarlet eyes, black clothes…his usual appearance. No visible changes. It was as though nothing had happened.

Quiet wafted through him, easing the tension in his limbs, soothing his mind, calming his heart – except for one small corner of his heart that ached. He turned his back on the mirror. It would go away, eventually.

He set the towel around his neck, his hair wasn't completely dry, and opened the facility door.

Cloud was sitting on the edge of Vincent's bed facing the facility door. Early morning sunlight poured through the window on the right, turning his spiked blond hair to soft gold. He was dressed in loose black sweatpants and a sleeveless gray sweatshirt. He'd clearly just gotten out of bed. However, his brows were low over his neon blue eyes, his lips were drawn in a tight thin line, and his arms were crossed. "Welcome back."

Vincent stiffened only slightly. He picked up the towel around his neck and set to scrubbing at his damp hair. "Thank you." He'd hoped that Cloud had gone back to Midgar, back to his new courier business, back to Tifa and the children he'd chosen to watch over.

The farmhouse was Cid's technically, but it was an open house to the whole team. Sitting just outside of Midgar, it was pretty much their personal way-station, a place to stop over on their way to other destinations. Any of them could be there at any given time. He hadn't expected Cloud to still be there.

Vincent very nearly smiled. Wishful thinking on his part. Cid made a lot of noise, but he wasn't one to actually pry. Cloud, on the other hand, seemed to assume that his friends' problems were his problems too. The kid worried. It was kind of sweet, but Cloud was the last person he wanted involved in this… sordid affair.

Cloud's lip curled. It wasn't a smile. "Care to tell me what happened?"

Vincent strode to the foot of his bed and picked up the single-sleeved leather gambeson jacket, refusing to meet Cloud's angry blue gaze. He slid his left arm into the sleeve. The jacket was strictly a layer of padding for his armor and stopped right at the bottom of his ribcage. "No."

Cloud dropped his chin and his eyes narrowed. "No?"

Vincent shrugged to settle the loose back panel between his folded wings. He didn't want to spread his wings wide in front of Cloud. Although invisible to the average human eye, each wing spread fully his height and a half in length, and half his height in width. He didn't want to take the chance that Cloud's physical enhancements would make out that _something_ was there. The kid knew too much about him as it was. He buckled the back panel to each side panels at the very bottom. His gaze flicked to Cloud's then dropped. He drew the front of the padded jacket across and buckled it closed on his right side. "It was a personal matter."

"Personal…?" Cloud choked. "Vincent, it was really obvious that you were kidnapped." His words were soft, but vehement. "You were gone for three whole days!"

Vincent lifted his articulated arm with its chest harness, leaving the clawed hand _gauntlet_ on the bed. He slid his padded arm into the armored sleeve and set the _spaulder_ on his shoulder joint. He offered Cloud a quick smile. "I escaped. The end." He looked away giving his complete attention to fastening the chest harness that supported the entire articulated arm. Hopefully Cloud would take the hint that he didn't want to talk about it.

"Damn it, Vincent…" Cloud lunged off the bed and paced along the side of the bed on bare feet. His movements were smooth and economic, almost feline in nature. If he'd actually been a cat his tail would have lashed angrily. He stopped and glared. "Is he dead?" His voice deepened. "Tell me you killed him."

Vincent sighed. Cloud was clearly in the mood to be stubborn and wasn't about to take hints. He adjusted the straps to his upper arm _rerebrace_, and then lower arm _vambrace_. "He is most definitely dead." Vincent snorted. It was the absolute truth, and the crux of the whole problem; Sephiroth had been dead to begin with. He gave his arm a shake to make sure the elbow _couter_ settled in the right spot.

"What did he want from you?"

Vincent lifted his clawed _gauntlet_. _A new body._ His cheeks heated. _And my body too._ He slid his leather-gloved hand into the armored hand and worked the buckles that held it to the underside of his _vambrace_. "He wanted something I wasn't willing to give."

"No kidding." Cloud scowled and resumed pacing. "It looked like you were being carried off naked."

Vincent didn't quite flinch. _Crap. _He'd hoped Cloud hadn't noticed that. "I'm sure it did." Because he had been. He focused on flexing his finger claws, opening and closing his hand.

Cloud snorted. "You looked like a princess being carried off by a villain in a fairy tale."

Vincent turned to stare at Cloud. The kid was way too bright.

Cloud grinned and threw up his hand. "Hey you're hot, so I could see why someone would want to carry you off!" He sniggered and shook his head. "But I just couldn't see you as anybody's princess."

Vincent blinked. Cloud though he was hot? That was new. _Never mind that!_ He shook his head to clear it, then smiled tightly. "Thank you, I think." He tugged his pack close and dug through it, pulling out a few of his spare speed-loaders. He set them out on the bed next to his gun-belt with the holstered tri-barreled pistol. He checked the rounds. He really needed to visit his weapons maker to see if his order for fresh ammo had been completed.

"Can you tell me who it was?"

"No." _Absolutely not!_ There was no way in hell he was telling Cloud that his ultimate enemy was still around, even as a ghost. The kid would go insane.

"No?" Cloud's hands fisted at his sides. "What do mean _no_? No you_ can't,_ or no you _won't_?"

Vincent shoved the speed-loaders into the gun-belt's assorted pouches without looking at Cloud. "No is a small word, one syllable, with only one meaning." He was not about to go into any more detail. The kid was too damned good at guessing.

"Vincent…" Cloud's voice dropped to a rumbling growl. "I'm only a hair away from beating the truth out of you."

Vincent turned and narrowed his gaze at Cloud. "I never lie. You know that better than anyone." He couldn't lie. Sephiroth had been right. Something in him just wouldn't let him. His only defense was keeping his mouth closed.

Cloud narrowed his gaze and curled his lip, showing his white front teeth. "You never explain anything either!"

Vincent stiffened. Cloud was definitely in one of his stubborn moods. "I'd like to get some sleep, if you don't mind. It took the entire night just to get back here, I'm dead tired."

"Oh really?" Cloud took a firm step closer and smiled. "Where were you?"

Vincent smiled right back, and this time he showed his long teeth. "I don't know." That was the gods' honest truth!

Cloud lifted a blonde brow and his smile tightened into something closer to a sneer. "Is that so?" He took another step closer. "Then how did you know how to get back here?"

"Uh…" At less than an arm's length away, Vincent stared eye to eye with Cloud. He couldn't help but wonder when the kid had gotten tall enough to actually look him in the eye. _And when had he gotten so damned good-looking?_ Alarm washed through him and the hair rose all over his body. _What the hell am I thinking?_ Too shocked to check his tongue, he spat out the first thing that came to mind. "I wandered around until I recognized something and went from there."

Cloud's blue eyes narrowed. "And where exactly, was _there_?'"

Vincent jerked his gaze away from Cloud's. He wasn't about to answer where _there_ was. That would open a whole new squirming can of questions about how he'd gotten from _there_ to the farmhouse in one night.

Cloud leaned closer. "Vincent…"

Vincent leaned away, keeping his head turned. "No." He wasn't sure if it was in response to the question or because Cloud was less than a hand-span away. He did not like being this physically close to anyone.

Cloud tilted his head and lifted a blond brow. "No, again?"

Vincent's heart thumped in his chest. Damn it, the kid was way too close. He could actually smell the heated scent of his body. "Back off, Cloud."

Cloud smiled with teeth and set his hands on his slim hips. "No."

Vincent felt heat spiral downward. He was definitely reacting to the kid. _Crap!_ He didn't need this, he really didn't. "Fine, then I will." He turned away and grabbed his pack with his bare right hand. He was not about to play dominance games with Cloud. Not with his body reacting out of control.

Cloud grabbed Vincent's right wrist. He grabbed the handle of Vincent's pack with his other hand. "Where are you going?"

Vincent froze. He turned to look at Cloud and growled, showing his long teeth. "Let go."

Cloud's hand tightened, and so did his jaw. "Vincent, you're my friend. I care about what happens to you. I just want to help."

"You can't." Vincent twisted his hand sharply.

Cloud held on to both Vincent's wrist and the pack. "Try me."

_Try him?_ Vincent froze where he stood actually wondering what it would be like. He'd seen Cloud practically naked a few times and knew the kid had one hell of a body… Heat spilled up into his cheeks then straight down into his cock, making it swell. He sucked in a sharp breath. _Fuck!_ What the hell had that perverted bastard done to him that he would even consider it? He stepped back pulling hard. "Let me go, Cloud." The pitch of his voice was a hair higher than normal.

Cloud's brows shot up and the black pits of his pupils widened. His cheeks flushed pink. "Go where?" The scent of warm musk rolled from him.

Every hair on Vincent's body rose. He knew male lust when he smelled it. He'd just spent the last few days practically rolling in it. He swallowed hard. _Son of a bitch!_ The kid was reacting to him too. He needed to leave before Cloud realized what was actually happening.

But Cloud clearly didn't want to let him leave.

Vincent released a low deep growl and bared his teeth. "Let go. I won't ask again." If he was forced to punch the kid in the head to get out of there, he would. He'd apologize later.

Cloud's eyes narrowed. "First, tell me who was fucking you for the past three days."

Vincent felt the blood leave his face in a cold rush. _He knows._ He lashed out with his armored left fist, catching Cloud square on the side of his head. It was only a glancing blow. He just wanted to knock some sense into his head, not kill him.

Cloud's eyes widened, then he reeled sideways.

Vincent tugged his wrist and his pack free. The kid hadn't even tried to block him. Apparently he hadn't thought Vincent would actually hit him. He'd been mistaken.

Vincent grabbed his gun-belt and went for the bedroom door. He collected his mantle and cape hanging on the back, then crouched to grab his armored shoes right by the doorjamb.

A bare foot thumped behind him.

Vincent abandoned his shoes and dodged left.

Cloud's fist hit the door with a loud bang and a crunch, right where Vincent's head would have been. The door vibrated, but held. Cloud pulled his fist free and bared his teeth at Vincent. "You're not leaving." His voice was quiet and very deep.

Vincent bolted for the window, more than willing to jump right through the glass. He felt the air shift behind him and whirled to the right.

Cloud slammed into a crouch directly in front of the window. He rose to his feet and turned to face Vincent. His eyes were wide black pits with only a thin line of blue encircling them. "Not a whole lot of places to run in here."

_Crap._ Cloud wasn't just being stubborn, he was being aggressive. It was one of the hazards of Soldiers First Class. Their treatments made them damn near bi-polar in their mood swings. He'd seen Cloud lose it a few times. The results of one of his berserk rages were never pretty. But then, neither was his. Vincent backed away from him. "Cloud, we can't fight in here, we'll destroy Cid's house."

Cloud followed. "Then don't fight me." He smiled.

Vincent stopped where he was, unsure of what he should do. He could keep dodging, but he knew he wouldn't stay out of Cloud's reach for long. He couldn't use his wings for additional speed or maneuvering at all. The room was just too damned small to open them. Not to mention that backing away and dodging only made the situation worse. It made him look like prey. "Cloud, you're not in your right mind."

Cloud eased to Vincent's right, keeping between Vincent and the window. "You got that right."

Vincent turned to keep Cloud in front of him. "Cloud…?"

Cloud continued to stalk around Vincent, circling him. "You were carried off by a man, Vincent. For three days I wondered what he was doing to you." He stopped suddenly, and focused on Vincent's mouth. "I wondered what you were doing to him." He licked his lips.

A quick glance down showed a rigid erection tenting the front of Cloud's loose pants. Chills spilled down Vincent's spine. _Crap, crap, crap_…

Cloud frowned and stepped closer. "I just want…"

Vincent held very still and tried to keep his voice calm. "You just want…what?"

Cloud's gaze dropped to the scarlet cape, gun-belt, and black carry-bag in Vincent's hands. "Put those down."

Vincent's fingers tightened on his belongings. "Cloud, it would be best if I leave."

"No." Cloud's gaze narrowed, his hands fisted at his sides, and his shoulders hunched slightly. "You are not leaving me again."

_What…?_ The hairs on the back of Vincent's neck rose. Cloud was on the very verge of a full blown attack. "Cloud…"

Cloud curled his lip, showing teeth. "Drop them, _now_!"

Without taking his eyes off Cloud, Vincent leaned to his right lowering his bag, gun-belt, and cape, setting them on the floor. With Cloud this close to snapping, he needed his hands free anyway. He folded his arms across his chest. "Happy now?"

His eyes locked on Vincent's, Cloud stepped forward and kicked. The whole pile went skidding.

Vincent turned to watch his things slide under the bed behind him and scowled. He'd have to lift the whole bed to get them back out.

He barely saw Cloud's fist coming at the side of his head.

Vincent twisted to avoid it, but not far enough. His head snapped hard to the side and white stars exploded behind his eyes. Stunned, he toppled over, collapsing in a loose-boned heap.

Vincent barely felt Cloud grab him under the arms to shove him up onto the bed. He winced and groaned. Holy hell his head hurt! The kid was freakishly strong. His punch had very nearly knocked him out cold. He felt tugging on his clothes. _Huh?_ His eyesight focused, somewhat.

Cloud was sitting on top of him, straddling his hips. Vincent's arm harness was unbuckled, his gambeson open, and his shirt pushed up, baring his belly.

Vincent frowned blearily. _What the hell is this?_ "Cloud?"

Cloud set his warm palms on Vincent's belly, making the stomach muscles jump in reaction. He slid his palms up, shoving the shirt higher baring Vincent's chest. Cloud's brows rose. He brushed his thumbs across Vincent's nipples. "They're so pale."

A sharp spark of erotic fire darted through Vincent's nipples and shot downward, making his cock twitch in interest. Vincent bit back a gasp and grabbed for Cloud's wrist with his human right hand. "Quit that!"

Cloud's eyes narrowed. He twisted his hand in Vincent's grip, taking hold of Vincent's wrist instead. He leaned forward pinning Vincent's wrist to the bed by Vincent's head. "Don't fight me, Vincent."

Vincent winced. Cloud wasn't hurting him, though the grip on his wrist was rather tight, it was the way he was seated. Cloud's forward angle was putting pressure in his semi aroused cock, and Cloud was fully aroused. He shifted under Cloud's weight to relieve the pressure.

Cloud inhaled sharply. His eyes opened wide, and his cheeks flushed pink. "Ah…"

Vincent froze under him with a strong suspicion that he'd just done something supremely stupid.

Cloud's darkened blue gaze locked on Vincent's shifting from narrowed to hooded. He licked his lips and closed his finger and thumb on Vincent's nipple. He tugged.

Erotic fire scorched him all the way down to his cock. Vincent writhed, one knee rising in sheer reaction. A groan escaped him.

Cloud smiled. "Your nipples are as sensitive as a girl's."

Vincent's face filled with heat and he scowled. "They're sensitive because I'm not used to people touching them, idiot."

"Liar." He thumbed Vincent's hardening nipple. "Someone has been touching them."

Sparks of delight burned in Vincent's nipples, and skittered downward. He bit back his groan, and twisted under Cloud. _Only one person, damn it._ His pants were getting uncomfortably tight. "Cloud, stop this. You do girls, not guys, remember?"

Cloud leaned down, smiling from only a breath away. "But you let guys do you."

Vincent stared up at Cloud's smile, thoroughly chilled. _What the fuck…?_ "I do _not_!"

"For someone that can't tell lies, you're certainly telling a lot of them." Cloud rocked his hips, deliberately putting pressure on Vincent's cock.

Vincent's groan escaped before he could stop it. "I am not lying!"

"Oh please… You obviously like what I'm doing to you." Cloud reached down with his free hand and pressed against the rigid bulge under Vincent's leather pants. He squeezed. "You're hard."

Vincent gasped. Bloody hell, what was going on in this kid's head? "Of course I'm hard! You're teasing me. Anyone would react the same way!"

"Is that so?" Cloud's smile tightened and his gaze narrowed. "I think you're reacting…" His voice dropped to a growl. "…Because someone already taught you to like it."

Vincent felt the blood leave his face and his entire body went rigid. That was far too close to the truth.

Cloud smile sharpened and his brows dipped low. "Fuck, I'm right, aren't I?" His fingers closed on the zipper to Vincent's leather pants. He tugged it downward. "How much did they teach you, Vincent? How far did they go?"

An icy sweat formed all over Vincent. "No!" He was not doing this with Cloud. He grabbed Cloud's upper arms, his metal claws digging in to flesh. "Get off me!" He twisted to shove him off. "Get off!"

Cloud jerked his arms free and slammed his forearms down on Vincent's shoulders, pressing down with his considerable upper-body weight. Because of the nature of his bio-engineering, Cloud's body was not only stronger than the average human's; it was far denser, making it incredibly heavy. "Stop that!"

Vincent gasped and bucked hard twisting. "No!" Unfortunately the mattress was too soft for any kind of real leverage. "I'm not doing this!" He brought his knees up, kicking out. "I'm not doing this with you!"

Cloud snarled and fought to grab Vincent's wrists. "But you'll do it with some other guy for three days?" He pinned them against the mattress up by Vincent's head. "What, I'm not good enough for you?"

Vincent froze, staring at Cloud's angry face. "What?"

Cloud's head dropped, covering Vincent's mouth in a hard kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters property of Square Enix**_

* * *

**Nine**

* * *

Vincent blinked, shocked. Cloud was _kissing_ him? Cloud was obviously pissed, but why was he doing _this_?

Cloud inhaled deeply, deliberately sucking the air right out of Vincent's lungs. He exhaled into Vincent's mouth.

Vincent's head swam with dizziness from sheer lack of oxygen. He jerked his head away, gasping for breath.

Trapping Vincent's wrists with one hand, Cloud shoved his other hand under Vincent's head and grabbed a handful of Vincent's long black hair. "Hold still, damn you!" He jerked hard.

Vincent gasped, more with surprise than pain.

Cloud covered Vincent's open mouth. His tongue slid across Vincent's tongue in a strong and aggressive foray. It wasn't tender or flirtatious in any way. It felt more like an act of territorial claiming, an expression of control.

Vincent fought against the kiss, shoving with his tongue in an attempt to push Cloud out of his mouth. He was not playing this stupid dominance game.

Cloud only redoubled his efforts to subdue Vincent's tongue, by sucking on it.

The sensation was too similar to what Vincent had felt before with Sephiroth. Shivers of sheer pleasure feathered across Vincent's body. A soft moan escaped.

Cloud groaned in approval and gentled his kiss, using softer, less invasive strokes. He rocked his hips, rubbing against Vincent in encouragement.

Erotic delight speared through Vincent and clenched in his balls. His twisting jerks eased into rolling undulations that pressed his rigid cock up against Cloud's. He couldn't help it, his body did it all on its own. Another moan escaped him.

Cloud's hand slid down between their writhing bodies, burrowing into Vincent's open pants and into his briefs. His fingers closed on Vincent's rigid cock and tugged it free.

Vincent arched and moaned into Cloud's mouth.

Cloud released Vincent's cock briefly and tugged at his own pants.

Vincent felt the heat of Cloud's cock against his own and shuddered in pure reaction.

Cloud arched and flexed, sliding his cock against Vincent's, belly to belly. He groaned with obvious pleasure.

The utterly riveting sensation of hard hot flesh rubbing against Vincent's cock was too much to resist. He braced his heels in the mattress and pushed back.

Cloud's hand eased from Vincent's hair and slid down into Vincent's pants to cup Vincent's ass, pulling him tighter against him. He bucked harder and faster, rubbing with enthusiasm against Vincent's cock.

Vincent pulled his thoughts together enough to realize that Cloud wasn't trying to fuck him, merely masturbating against his belly. It was almost a relief. Perhaps Cloud hadn't lost his mind entirely?

His body however was a total pleasure-seeking slut completely out of his control. _Damn you Sephiroth!_

Cloud shuddered and pulled his mouth from Vincent's. He dropped his head against Vincent's neck, gasping for breath. The scent of aroused male rolled off of him in a potent wave.

Vincent inhaled Cloud's scent and felt a soft clench in his balls. He was going to cum. But he didn't want to cum, not with Cloud. It felt wrong. He groaned and fought to hold it.

Cloud abruptly stilled, his body going rigid. He arched, pressing hard against Vincent, then bucked. He shuddered and groaned.

Hot liquid spattered against Vincent's belly. The scent of wet male musk filled the air. Cloud had climaxed.

Vincent's body clenched hard with imminent release. He grabbed for it, gasping with the effort to keep it from happening.

Cloud captured Vincent's in a sudden devouring kiss. He arched hard, his still- rigid cock sliding in his own cum against Vincent's.

Vincent moaned into Cloud's mouth. The hot velvet of Cloud's tongue and the sensation of his cock sliding in hot wetness were just too much for his body to resist. A hot wave of pleasure washed through him. He groaned and spilled. Small delicious shudders rippled through him. A wave of exhaustion followed right after.

Cloud leaned up to look down at Vincent. His eyes were wide open and very nearly normal in hue. He blushed fiercely. "Shit, Vincent, I…"

Vincent glared up at him, but he was just as pissed at himself as he was at Cloud. "Now that you seem to have your brain back, would you mind getting off me?"

Cloud sat up and stared down at the wetness smeared across both their bellies. "Ah, fuck…" He eased off of Vincent and stood up. "I didn't mean…" His voice was soft, breathless, shocked. "I… I lost it."

Vincent got off the bed as though it was on fire. "No shit you lost it." Scowling, he stomped toward the facility. "I'm going to wash. I suggest you go to your room and do the same."

"Vincent, I'm sorry!" Cloud's voice was tight. Clearly he was feeling guilty.

Vincent refused to look at him. He was not in the mood to be sympathetic. "So am I, Cloud. So am I." He slammed the facility door shut behind him. He held perfectly still until he heard the bedroom door open, and then close.

He stepped over to the sink without looking in the mirror. He grabbed a clean washcloth, soaked it, and scrubbed the mess off his belly with soap and scalding water. He rinsed out the cloth thoroughly, then grabbed the towel to dry himself. Quickly and efficiently, he refastened his clothes and harness.

Dressed at last, he glanced into the mirror. He froze, shocked. There were tears running down his cheeks.

When the hell had that happened? _Never mind._ He slammed a lid on his thoughts with practiced ease. He knew damned well what had just happened would catch up to him later, but that was later. He reached for a clean washcloth and ran it under the water. He scrubbed his face viciously and didn't look into the mirror again.

He left the facility and lifted the bed to get his things. He donned his armored boots and mantled cape with near violent haste. He buckled on his gun-belt, letting it rest low on his hip, and strapped the holster to his thigh. The weight of his tri-barrel Cerberus pistol was familiar and comforting. He sighed.

With his bag slung over his shoulder, he left the bedroom. Unfortunately, he couldn't leave just yet. He had to wait until nightfall to travel by flight unseen. But there was no way in hell he was going to stay in that room.

On silent feet, he went down the hall. Soft breathing came from the other bedrooms. Apparently it was still early enough in the morning for the other current residents to still be asleep. _Good._ It was better this way. No witnesses, no awkward questions.

He went downstairs to the kitchen and opened the door to the basement. He stepped down and strode past the house's power system and the old-fashioned boiler hunched in opposite corners. A second stairway led into the sub-basement. In the farthest corner was Cid's workroom. It was dark, cool, and although crammed with parts and partially built gadgets, it was also scrupulously clean.

He strode for the wall with the diagram of Cid's original aircraft, the _Highwind_. It gave under the pressure of his palm revealing a windowless and barely closet sized room with only a canvas cot and a small table. Once upon a time the room had been used to hide _Avalanche_ members from ShinRa. Cid knew about it, obviously, but Vincent doubted that Cloud did. It had been his original place of rest, the one he'd used before he'd felt comfortable enough to sleep in an actual bedroom.

He turned and slammed the door's inner bolt home. He pressed his palm against the nearly invisible door and activated the 'don't notice me' to keep any possible nuisances that might know about the inner room from bothering him.

He sighed and dropped his bag on the floor. He was bone weary, though more mentally than physically. Fully dressed, he stretched out on the cot, and closed his eyes. He quite literally shoved his body into a deep and practically breathless sleep that left no room for even the smallest of dreams.

-VV-

Vincent's eyes snapped open. His body told him quite plainly that full night had fallen. His sharp hearing made out that the radio was playing, set to a rock station. He could smell cigarettes and beer. The sound of metal against metal was subtle, but there. So was some off-key humming.

Cid was working on something in the room just beyond the door. If anyone else was out there with him, he couldn't tell. Cid's cigarettes masked any other scent and the radio masked any small sounds they might have made.

Vincent sat up on the cot. This was Cid's house, there wasn't anything he needed to worry about here. He frowned. So why was he sleeping in the basement's bolt-hole?

Memory slammed him hard.

_Sephiroth… _

Vincent's heart twisted for no good reason what so ever. He shook his head slamming the lid on that worm's nest of thought and emotion. He'd escaped, but the ghost was still running around. The windowless bolt-hole was probably a good idea. But that wasn't why he was here.

Vincent picked up his bag and stood up facing the door. He frowned.

_Cloud… _

A chill shivered through him. Vincent actually had to take his hand off his gun. The kid had snapped. After a full day of stewing, he was probably rolling neck deep in guilt. He smiled tightly. _Good._

Vincent opened the door and stepped out into daylight brightness. He winced and lifted his hand to spare his eyes. Cid had turned on the entire row of ceiling fluorescents.

Cid sat on a stool at the table in the center of the room facing the hidden door, a lit cigarette clamped in his teeth. He was tinkering with one of his contraptions, his nimble fingers working with dazzling speed. The pieces blanketed the table. His older careworn face was drawn with strong lines, his gaze tightly focused on his work. His shoulder-length salt and pepper hair was slicked back behind his ears, held by his ever-present goggles. Broad-chested and heavily muscular, many assumed that he'd be clumsy at small delicate work, but Vincent knew that just wasn't so.

Cid's green t-shirt was scrupulously clean, though his hands were not. The towel draped around his neck was utterly filthy. Apparently that's what he'd been wiping his hands on. The ashtray by his right elbow was already full. Just within arm's reach was a case of beer encircled by the light blue glow of a 'chill' spell. Six empty beer cans lay tumbled by it.

Cid waved a sonic wrench in Vincent's direction without looking up from his project. "Ah, good you're awake. Now I can chew both your asses a new hole. Grab a stool and a beer."

Vincent started. In the far right corner just beyond Cid, Cloud was perched on a stool with a beer in his hand. His shoulders were hunched in a clearly defensive pose.

Vincent's gaze flicked to the far left corner, and the stairwell. If he needed to get out of there fast, the room was plenty large enough to get his wings open for added speed and maneuverability. He'd be able to escape.

Cloud gave Vincent a quick sideways glance. His cheeks turned a warm pink and his jaw tightened.

Vincent gave himself a mental nod. Yep the kid was definitely feeling guilty. _Good._ He carefully placed his bag on the floor and stepped forward to the stool right in front of him. He hooked with his foot and sat down, then leaned over to snag a can of beer from the case. He popped the top and took a swig, wincing a little from the carbonation burn. The contradictory cold liquid, yet warming effect of the alcohol actually felt good. He very nearly smiled. _Beer-buzzed already._ Alcohol tended to affect him a touch strongly.

Luckily his body burned through the effects pretty fast.

Cid sat up straight and turned in his stool so he could eye both Vincent and Cloud. "Okay you two rock-heads, you wanna tell me what happened last night, or do you want me to tell you?"

Vincent nearly crushed the beer in his hand.

Cloud's beer exploded in his hand, spraying all over him.

Cid snorted and tossed the kid the dirty towel from around his neck. "Idiot."

Cloud snatched the towel out of the air and scowled.

Cid propped his elbow on the table and waved his wrench at both of them. "What, did you think I wouldn't know what goes on in my house?"

Vincent tilted his head and raised a brow. "_Do_ you know what happened?"

Cid rolled his eyes "Gi'me a fuckin' break…" He took a swig of beer. "It's not like you two were quiet, or anything." He tapped the ash off his cigarette into the already full ashtray. "At least you didn't break the furniture or take out the walls." He shot a glare at Vincent. "Or rip out the window."

Vincent held his glare. He hadn't ripped out that window.

Cid waved his wrench toward Cloud. "In case you didn't know, that idiot went insane trying to pick up your trail; even though it was crystal clear you'd been taken by air."

Cloud curled his lip. "There should have been _something _to indicate which direction he'd gone." He tossed the beer-soaked towel at Cid.

Cid caught the towel without even looking. "There wasn't, you chocobo-head. Air-travel only leaves a trail when it's driven by an engine." He waved his wrench at Vincent. "Whatever took him had wings. You saw the feathers yourself."

Cloud leveled a glare at Vincent. "_Who_-ever. It was a 'who', not a 'what'. The guy wore black leather and had long white hair."

Vincent held very, very still. There was only one person with that description, but to Cloud's knowledge that person was dead. The heavens help him if he realized that the life-stream allowed for corporeal ghosts.

Cid rolled his eyes and looked over at Vincent. "Needless to say, the kid spent the past three days having one panic attack after the other."

"I did not have panic attacks!" Cloud gripped the stool he was sitting on with both hands, his jaw set at a mulish angle. "And I'm not a kid!"

Cid smiled tightly. "And when he wasn't having a panic attack, he was driving me insane to get the ship out to go find you."

Cloud spoke through his clenched teeth. "Which you refused to do."

Cid took a drag from his cigarette. "And now you're back." He stood up and leaned over the table, scrutinizing Vincent openly. "You look like you're all in one piece."

Vincent smiled tightly. "I am." Except for his virginity.

Cid smiled, but his eyes narrowed. "And I'll bet you a fresh case of beer that you refused to say one word about it to Cloud?"

Vincent's mouth tightened, but felt his cheeks heat. "It was a personal matter."

Cid waved his cigarette. "Yeah, yeah, isn't it always?"

Cloud shot a hot glare at Vincent.

Vincent replied with a glare of his own.

Cid snorted and banged his wrench on the table. "Enough you two!"

Vincent jumped. A vague feeling of guilt washed over him. His cheeks filled with heat.

Cloud looked away, his cheeks turning pink.

Cid nodded at Vincent. "So, since you were being your usual closed-mouthed self…" Cid waved his wrench toward Cloud. "The kid quite naturally, completely lost his shit."

Cloud sat up on his stool, folded his arms and nodded with a tight smile.

Vincent shot a glare at Cid. Was he saying that Cloud's near-rape was all _his _fault?

Cid took a couple of hard gulps from his beer, emptying it, and slammed the drained can down with a wry face. "Now, what I find funny…" He grabbed a fresh can of beer. "Is that you two are the most level-headed out of the whole pack of us, well except for Tifa. In fact, it's kind'a freaky how level-headed both of you can be." He popped the top on his beer. "And yet, both of you completely lost your shit."

Vincent curled his lip. "I did _not_ lose it."

Cid pointed a finger at Vincent. "Don't gi'me that crap. You know damned good and well that he's borderline psycho when it comes to his teammates."

Cloud choked. "What?"

Cid pointed his wrench at Cloud. "Don't even try to deny it!" He turned and pointed his wrench toward Vincent. "And you…! You knew damned good and well that keeping your trap shut would make him lose it."

Vincent felt his temper spark. He very carefully set his fairly full beer down before he crushed it. "It was none of his concern."

Cid rolled his eyes. "Whatever… And you, Cloud…" Cid turned to scowl at the kid. "You knew that if it was important he'd tell you."

Cloud scowled right back, his cheeks getting pinker by the second. "I saw him kidnapped."

"So?" Cid took a drag off his cigarette. "Obviously it couldn't have been that big a deal or Vincent would have torn that whole part of the house apart."

Vincent looked away. Maybe he should have torn the house apart? He shook his head. No, it was better to make the whole incident seem small and insignificant. He didn't need Cloud running around on another great 'Sephiroth hunt'.

He pressed his hand against his temple and closed his eyes briefly. Blood and hell, what was he thinking? If he didn't know better, he'd say he was actually trying to protect the arrogant prick. He sighed. Truthfully, maybe he was to some degree. It wasn't as if this Sephiroth was the planet-killing Sephiroth. He grabbed the beer and took a healthy swallow. The carbonated liquid burned down his throat. He winced. When did everything get so damned complicated? He took another mouthful of beer.

"So, he didn't tear the house apart." Cloud threw out a hand. "That's beside the point!"

"It's entirely the point." Cid shot a narrow look and a tight smile at Vincent. "It was probably just some sort of lover's spat."

Vincent very nearly spewed his mouthful of beer. He swallowed hard and coughed, a little.

Cloud crossed his arms. "Vincent was carried off by a _guy_."

Cid's gaze locked on Vincent's and his smile broadened. "So he has a _boy_friend, big deal."

Vincent felt the blood leave his face.

Cloud scowled. "You said he was dead, Vincent."

Vincent scrambled for something to say. His temper flared. Why the hell was he defending himself? "Yes, the man that…took off with me is dead, and yes I have a…" He swallowed. "A male lover." Perfectly truthful on both accounts. His cheeks heated fiercely. He desperately wanted to say that having a male lover hadn't been his idea in any way, shape, or form, but that would only throw jet-fuel on Cloud's inquisitional fire. _Fuck it._ He slugged down the rest of his beer, then crunched the empty can in his fist. The feeling was vaguely satisfying.

Cid threw out his hands. "There, see? Nothing to worry about." He waved a hand at Vincent. "Have another beer. It helps kill the embarrassment."

Another beer sounded perfectly reasonable to Vincent. He reached out to grab another can and popped the top.

Cloud scowled, his eyes narrowing to blue slits. He slid off his stool, his hands fisted at his sides.

Cid pointed a long finger at him. "Cut the crap with the jealous act. You've already got a girlfriend. If you wanted to go out with Vincent you should have said something before."

Cloud's mouth fell open and his eyes widened. "Go out…?"

Cid grinned. "Oh come on, even I know Vincent's hot."

_What…?_ Vincent definitely did not what to think down those lines. He tipped back the beer and swallowed every last drop. He slammed the empty can down on the table. "Can I go now?" His voice came out breathless and a little high-pitched.

Cid chuckled and waved. "Sure kid, anytime."

"Kid?" Vincent frowned. "I'm older than you."

Cid set both elbows on the worktable and raised a brow. "Then act it! Quit being so damned _'the more you wanna know, the less I'm telling you'_, passive-aggressive."

Vincent jerked back as though slapped. _Passive-aggressive?_

Cid pointed a finger at Cloud. "And you…! Quit trying to make yourself the center of everyone else's universe. People got their own lives you know."

Cloud looked away and crossed his arms.

Cid grinned. "Well the good news is you're both still human."

Vincent stared at Cid. _Human?_ Had he completely lost his mind?

Cloud's open-mouthed expression clearly mimicked Vincent's thoughts exactly.

Cid pointed from one to the other. "When you two stop losing your shit on occasion, then I'll worry about you not being human anymore."

Vincent exchanged confused glances with Cloud.

Cid's smile evaporated. "Believe it or not, that's how I knew when General Sephiroth stopped being the General, and started being…something that wasn't him. He stopped losing his shit."

Vincent frowned and sat back down on his stool. "You mean you could tell that it…wasn't him?"

Cid snorted. "Shit yeah. The General was always borderline psycho, with a short fuse to match. He lost his shit fairly regularly." He rolled his eyes and smiled wryly. "That man could yell so loud, you'd hear it for blocks. I clearly remember him keeping a Cure _materia_ in his pocket for when he accidentally-on-purpose, pulped someone that richly deserved it."

Cloud came up to the table with a slight smile. "He had to carry a Cure _materia _just for his sparring matches with the _Soldiers_." He grinned. "He'd yell at them the whole time he was using it too, bitching them out for not practicing enough and damaging company property -- themselves."

Vincent very nearly smiled. That sounded like his Sephiroth all right.

Cid shook his head and his smile evaporated. "Then he started to change. He'd have periods where he was totally cold, no emotions what so ever. No 'happy', no 'sad', no 'pissed off' either, like he wasn't even there." He stared at the table. "All of his expressions seemed…recorded, like his body was on auto-pilot or something." He looked up at Vincent. "It was the creepiest thing I ever saw."

Cloud frowned. "I remember that. There'd be whole weeks where it was like he'd been turned into a doll, or a robot. He just…did things. When he laughed you could tell there wasn't a drop of real humor in it. When he killed, it was pure matter of fact." He looked over at Cid. "It was like someone hit a button labeled 'laugh' or 'kill' and he did it."

Cid tapped a finger on the table. "He'd slip back into normal but the blank periods got longer. About a week before the Nibelheim incident, he came to the hanger to do an inspection and it was real obvious he'd been almost completely, I dunno, erased? I quit that day. I just packed my shit and got my ass out of there." He looked away. "I didn't want whatever was happening to him, happening to me."

Cloud stared down at the table then pushed away. "Anyway, it's over. He's dead." He looked over at the stairs. "I need to get back."

Cid nodded. "You do that." A slight smile lifted his lips. "Brace yourself for a bitching too. You know Tifa's gonna be pissed."

Cloud sighed. "Yeah, I know." He looked over at Vincent, a slight frown on his lips. "I'm sorry I lost it, really."

Vincent sighed. "I am too. I just didn't…" His face heated.

Cid snorted. "You just didn't want to embarrass yourself by talking about your kinky love life?"

Vincent looked away and lifted a shoulder. That was pretty much it. "Yeah." His face felt like it was on fire.

Cid waved his hands. "All right you two, get out of here and quit bothering me with your personal dramas!" He took a long swallow of beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Fuck, I really hate being the mature one with shit like this."

Vincent snorted and picked up his pack. "Be truthful Cid, you hate being mature under any circumstances."

Cid grinned broadly. "You got that fucking-A right, now get out of here!"

Vincent shouldered his pack and went up the stairs. Cid and Cloud both knew that Sephiroth had changed, that something had clearly happened to him. Maybe explaining his ghost wouldn't be so difficult, or unacceptable, after all?


	10. Chapter 10

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

* * *

**Ten**

* * *

The night sky over the wastelands was veiled in stars and the moon just a delicate curve of brightening silver rising in the east.

Vincent leaped upward from cliff edge to cliff edge, stretching his wings with each upward leap until he reached the top of the red sandstone bluff. Stones crunched under his armored boots and soft dust swirled with each step. Below him in canyons, to either side of what was left of the main highway, the dustbowl desert was already showing signs of returning green. The world was coming back to life, even here.

He turned to look back at the glimmering lights of the crater-city of Midgar. The city's new mayor, Reeve, had gotten the city's power running again, to some degree. Cid had said something about super-pressure steam engines being used to power the turbine reactors -- water power. It was old-fashioned, but the lights were back on and that's all anyone really cared about. Life was returning to normal.

Vincent snorted. _Good for them._ He had other concerns. He turned his back on the half-lit city and considered the horizon. It wasn't that he was in any great hurry to discover who might be a good host for Sephiroth, he just figured that as long as he kept moving he'd be reasonably safe from the ghost's attention. He smiled. _Catch me if you can._

So, where to begin?

He looked to the north-west. He knew of only one place in the world where the early ShinRa records might still exist. It was the one place he never wanted to see again, yet the one place that he kept returning to – Nibelheim.

With a deep sigh, he opened his arms wide and called forth the other side of his soul, the one made of utter darkness. Black lightning danced under his skin then expanded to wrap around his entire form. In a glorious rush of expanding power the change came upon him.

Briefly he wondered what happened to the clothes and armor he wore when he did this. Strangely, they were always in perfect order when he changed back. It was just another one of those odd personal mysteries that seemed to have no answer. Unfortunately there was no one to ask, or even discuss it with. No one knew he could do this, except for Sephiroth.

He shook his head briefly. He didn't want to think about the ghost.

Armored, horned and clawed, he launched into the sky heading north-west on broad wings darker than midnight. All three crimson eyes were wide open to view the currents of the wind.

Surfing the rising air flows, his wings oaring the tides of shifting winds with casual ease, his mind calmed and his heart eased. Peace came upon him.

He crossed the inlet sea of the northern passage at its narrowest point. On the south-western tip of the second island, he found a cliff-side cave large enough for his monstrous form. The cave was occupied by something large and mostly natural, but the beast was hungry from its flight. Sated by flesh and soul-fire, the beast curled up deep in the cave and rested through the daylight hours.

Nightfall came and the beast turned its three scarlet eyes westward. It launched into the sky for another night flight, this time across the open northern sea. The ocean winds were far stronger and the flight swifter. Even so, he reached the eastern continent roughly a few hours before dawn.

There were too many small towns dotting the coast to rest without being seen, so the beast continued inland, flying high over the bright lights of Costa Del Sol, almost due west toward the Corel mountains.

Dawn was pinking the sky when the beast reached the rolling foothills of the mountains and landed in one of the greater forests. It found another meal, somewhat larger and less natural. It ate with relish and nested among some fallen trees. Completely sated, it slept deeply through the day, the night, and the following day as well.

Night came and he launched into the sky, stretching his wings over Corel's steep fjord cliffs and deeply shadowed river valleys. Far below, cliff-side towns glimmered in their tiny spider webs of lights.

Another cliff cave, another meal, another rest, and then further west, toward the tall and jagged snow-peaks of the Nibel Mountains.

The cold was fierce but the beast barely felt it. What it did feel was hunger. The few creatures that lived among the mountain's heights were small and fairly natural, barely touched by the magic the beast needed to feed on.

A long and slender, rather middle-sized ice dragon flew out from a banked glacier. It blazed with power.

Too hungry for caution, the beast went after the dragon.

The dragon's cold blasts did little harm against the beast's armor, but it was a clever hunter. For all that it was only a quarter of the beast's mass, the dragon was blindingly swift and ferocious. It dove close on its tiny wings, slashing with its long jagged teeth and ice-tipped claws.

Although larger and far more powerful, the beast was not nearly so maneuverable. If it could catch the dragon, it would kill it fairly easily, but catching the swift sleek dragon wasn't so easily done.

The dragon's serrated teeth ripped long tears in the beast's heavier wings and its ice-tipped claws dug between the beast's armor plates into soft tissue.

Howling the beast twisted sharply and slashed with his sword-length claws, scoring one of the dragon's small wings.

The dragon screamed and looped around, swiftly wrapping its slippery body around the beast. It tightened, constricting, entangling the beast's clawed arms and legs, and interfering with the beast's wings.

Bound together, they crashed into a cliff side.

The beast grabbed onto the cliff, and twisted hard. It caught the dragon with its massive fangs and bit down with bone-crushing force. The fight ended and the fare proved to be finer than expected. The dragon's soul was rich with power.

During its rest, the tears in the beast's wings and the deep stabs from the dragon's claws healed closed, but heat fired the beast's blood. During the following night's flight its heart began to labor and its joints began to ache. Flight proved difficult and tiring.

Vincent felt the heat running through the beast's body and realized that the dragon's claws had carried poison. He would live through it, poisons did little lasting harm, but he would need a safe place to sleep off the effects, and soon.

He continued his flight across the night sky, determined to reach his destination before the rising fever forced him from the sky.

-VV-

On a rocky outcropping, the beast panted in exhaustion while steam curled up from its black scaled armor. Nestled in the deep valley below was the dark and completely deserted town of Nibelheim.

The beast snorted in derision. The original town had been utterly destroyed along with the town's reactor in a massive conflagration. Less than a year later, the town had been entirely reconstructed; stick by stick, a perfect replica. It was the largest cover-up operation ShinRa Corporation had ever done. They'd even employed actors to replace the missing citizens.

After the reactor's final collapse, they hadn't bothered to rebuild. The near destruction of the civilized world had erased the need for a false town.

Everyone was long gone and the entire town had fallen into utter ruin. The fabricated buildings, unlike the originals, had not been made to last. Many of them had collapsed completely revealing the cheaply-built plaster-board inner structures that had supported the false plaster-brick facades.

The beast lifted its horned head. The largest house at the far edge of town still stood, though it showed signs of wear as well. Apparently that house had not been made of cheap materials.

If the beast could have smiled with its long muzzle it would have. Of course the ancestral house of the ShinRas would not be made cheaply. Too many secrets still hid deep in its basements.

Among those secrets was the information Vincent was looking for. The information was probably badly out-dated, but that was perfectly fine. What he was looking for was far from current.

The most current files were all locked away neck-deep in code in the ShinRa mainframe back in Midgar. The computerized archive was sealed in the highly protected bomb-sheltered sub-basements of the mostly devastated ShinRa tower. Only the new ShinRa president could access that information.

However, the original paper files had all been stored here. Vincent was damned sure no one had ever moved the monstrous archive. The town's second devastation had happened so fast, there had not been time to do more than flee with what one could carry. Jenova and the fate of the world had taken everyone's interest after that.

Vincent wondered if Rufus ShinRa, the brand-new president even knew that this storehouse of information was here. The old president and the long since deceased original vice president, Rufus Alphonse ShinRa had known about this place, but this Rufus was very young. Most of his father's deepest secrets had not yet been shared before the old president's assassination – by Sephiroth.

Vincent knew because this was where he had been assigned when he had still been a suit-wearing Turk for the ShinRa Power and Electric Company, a very long time ago.

Back then, the old president, Rufus's father, had still been a young man and very new to his position. Rufus Alphonse had still been in college, though everyone knew it was inevitable he'd inherit the vice presidency from his father. Many had gone to Rufus Alphonse for jobs and favors. One of whom had been Lucrecia Crescent, Rufus Alphonse's first cousin and Vincent's first love.

Vincent heart twisted just a little. He looked away.

Off to the south-east and up on the cliff-heights, the pink of dawn tinted the jagged and blackened crater left from the destruction of the town's energy reactor. Below the reactor had been the labs. Vincent shuddered, and the beast shuddered with him. He had no interest in going anywhere near that.

The beast turned away from disintegrating town and climbed higher among the jagged cliffs. It had flown as far as its feverish body could. It was time to rest. All else would have to wait.

-VV-

Deep in a cave very close to the mountain's summit, the beast slept but it did not rest. The air and land smelled too familiar, reminding it of the pain and grief that had accompanied its creation. Tormented by dreams, it writhed in distress, filling the cave with its feverish heat.

Day passed, night fell, and the fever still raged.

It groaned through dreams of raging fires and distant screams all colored by a red haze, as though it viewed the world through a thin layer of blood.

A whispered name slashed through the dreams, a summons that could not be denied.

The beast awoke. Clumsy with exhaustion, it left the cave and foundered into the blowing snow. A familiar scent on the wind led the beast upward to the mountain's summit and the bright glow of the one who had called.

A star-bright hand caressed the beast's over-warm brow. "Sleep, sleep, my pet and let me have your other half."

The beast groaned and complied, releasing the other half of its soul sealed within.

Vincent felt the beast give way, releasing him into his human shape. The change burned through him, taking the last of his strength. He groaned and dropped to his knees in the snow. Panting, he frowned up at the tall winged man with flowing silver hair. His long black leather coat flapped in the snowy wind. He blinked. "Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth's silver brows furrowed and he frowned. "Vincent, you look like shit."

Vincent very nearly smiled. "Thank you, I feel like shit." He sighed and fell over into the nice soft snow right at the dark angel's feet.

-VV-

The whisper of a page turning startled Vincent out of a deep sleep. The sound had been very close to his ear. _That's weird. _Even more odd, was that he was curled up on his right side against something long and warm, and rather solid. The pillow under his right cheek was somewhat hard. He opened his eyes and discovered that his cheek was in fact resting on someone's thigh. He could see a pair of leather-clad legs crossed at the ankles and stocking feet at the end of the bed.

Wait a minute…he was in a _bed?_

Vincent shoved up onto his elbows, only to collapse on his back under a wave of bone-weary exhaustion.

Sephiroth leaned over him. He wore a plain black turtleneck tucked into his black leather pants, and his silver hair was pulled back into a neat tail that draped over his far shoulder. A book was in his hand. His brows lifted. "Ah, you're awake."

Vincent frowned up at him. "Sephiroth?"

"You said that last time." The dark angel snorted. "What a terrible memory you have."

Vincent looked around the shadowed room and frowned. He didn't recognize a single thing. Other than the bed he was on and the battered dresser partially draped with a gray sheet up against the opposite wall, the room was pretty much bare. The steeply pitched walls weren't even finished, just bare wood struts. There wasn't even a carpet.

On his left, the two floor-to-ceiling dormer windows were without curtains and showed blowing snow. On the right a glowing ball about the size of a man's head floated about a foot from the floor radiated heat and soft yellow light. Beyond the glow was a plain wooden door. "I think I agree with you. I don't remember being here at all."

Sephiroth contemplated the book in his hand. "I don't see why you would. You were unconscious when I brought you here." He turned a page.

Vincent struggled to sit up. "And where is _here_?"

"One of the attic rooms of the ShinRa mansion." Sephiroth shifted his legs, crossing his ankles the other way. "I simply could not find your campsite."

Vincent groaned with effort but finally succeeded in sitting up against the bed's headboard. "The beast doesn't need a campsite. I was sleeping in a cave." He noted his armor-less but gloved left hand, then noted that his gambeson and his shirt were also missing. _Ah crap…_ He lifted the covers he'd been tucked under for confirmation. "I'm naked."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "You have an entire house at your disposal and you fell asleep in a _cave_?"

Vincent dropped the covers and scowled. "An entire house rigged with Gaia only knows what kind of traps or electronic surveillance." He crossed his arms. "Why am I naked?"

Sephiroth nodded absently. "Yes, I know all about the traps, which is why I entered by way of the roof, and why we are currently ensconced in the attic." He turned a page.

Vincent scrubbed his hands down his face. "Okay fine, whatever…" He crossed his arms. "Now, would you kindly tell me why I'm _naked_?"

Sephiroth set the book down on his right side. "Because I was curious …" He leaned over and grabbed Vincent's wrist, then pulled to stretch the arm out and expose the underside. The veins under Vincent's pale skin showed clearly as a tracery of bright and angry red. "…As to how far the lines of your infection went." He scowled ferociously. "Imagine my surprise…" He jerked the sheet down to Vincent's lap, revealing the angry red lines that traced outward from his chest. "…When I discovered that it pretty much covered you, from throat to toe."

Vincent sighed. _Oh, that._ "It's just poison."

Sephiroth curled his lip and bared his teeth. "Just poison." His voice dropped to a deep bass growl. "Oh, is that all?" Black sarcasm dripped from every word.

"It's from an ice dragon." Vincent sighed and the sigh suddenly became a yawn. "I won't die from it." There really wasn't much that _could _kill him. His eyes grew heavy and he eased back down among the pillows.

Sephiroth's anger dissipated into a frown. "Are you thirsty or hungry?"

"Just…tired." Vincent wilted further down among the blankets. "I don't eat normal food."

"What _do_ you eat?"

The thought to keep his mouth shut crossed Vincent's mind, but he was just too tired to worry about it. "Life-stream energy, magic, souls…"

Sephiroth's eyes widened. "I knew you fed on life-stream flows, most magical creatures do, but souls sound difficult to obtain."

Vincent shook his head, and his eyes drifted closed. "Nope. I can take the whole thing by killing, or just part of it through blood drinking, though the best is by sex."

"You can drink a soul with sex?"

Vincent yawned hard enough to crack his jaw. "It's only part of the soul, but it's the good part, the best part. I get it when they climax." Vincent had the vague feeling that he shouldn't be telling Sephiroth any of this, but he was so tired of keeping it all to himself.

"Taking a part of a soul doesn't kill them?"

"Nope, grows back in three days." Vincent curled up against Sephiroth's hard warmth. "Smell good…" Like warm leather.

"I smell good?" Sephiroth chuckled softly. "That's nice to know."

_Had he said that out loud? _Vincent struggled to open his eyes and looked up at the man leaning over him. "Hey, um…" His thoughts suddenly scattered. "Uh…"

"Hm?" Sephiroth's brows lifted. "What?"

Vincent frowned trying to gather his thoughts again. "Am I passive-aggressive?" He was pretty sure that that wasn't what he wanted to ask, but it was as good as anything else.

Sephiroth snorted. "You seem rather demonstratively-aggressive to me."

Vincent had to think that over before he could place what it meant. "Oh." He smiled and pressed his cheek up against Sephiroth's leg. "Well, that's okay."

Sephiroth picked up his book and patted Vincent on the head. "Sleep well."


	11. Chapter 11

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

* * *

**Eleven**

* * *

Vincent stirred in his sleep, his cheek rubbing against smooth sheets that carried a familiar and somewhat stirring scent. His hand closed, bunching the blankets. Wait a minute… Sheets? Blankets?

His eyes snapped open. He was in a bed in an old fashioned attic bedroom. _What the…?_ He frowned. Somehow, the room with its steeply peaked bare-wood raftered ceiling actually looked vaguely familiar. The two floor-to-ceiling dormer windows on the left were haphazardly draped with old gray sheets, but he could have sworn he remembered seeing them without the sheets and snow falling beyond the glass. The worn dresser with its half draped gray sheet sitting against the far wall facing the foot of the bed, and the door on the right seemed familiar too.

His frown deepened. He remembered going into the cave near the mountain's summit to sleep off the fever from the ice dragon's poison then…

Snow…

Sephiroth…

_Oh yeah…_ He was in the attic of the ShinRa mansion, carried here by Sephiroth. He even remembered speaking to him about…something. Vincent raised his hands and rubbed at his face. He couldn't recall a thing. What they'd talked about had been erased by the fever. He arched into a back-popping stretch. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been all that important.

Vincent lifted his arms. His veins had gone back to being near-invisible blue. All traces of angry red were gone. The poison was apparently out of his system. _Good._

He rolled over onto his side and twisted, bringing his knee up and over to the opposite side. Muscles flexed deliciously and bones popped slightly. He spread one wing completely out, extending the slender bones to their furthest limits. It felt unbelievably good just to stretch. He turned over onto his their side, twisted and stretched out the other wing. He groaned for good measure.

Vincent turned over onto his back with a satisfied sigh and wondered vaguely how long he'd been asleep. Anyway, now that that was over, it was time to begin searching through the old archive and perhaps find a few answers.

"Blessed Gaia, don't stop on my account!" The voice was deep, masculine and came from the right.

Vincent jolted and sat bolt up-right to look toward the door.

Sephiroth smiled and stepped through the doorway closing the door quietly behind him. "You looked like you were enjoying yourself." His hair was pulled back into a long sleek tail that fell over the shoulder of his signature double-breasted black leather coat. The white armor shoulder _pauldrons_ were absent, as was the cross-harness he normally wore to hold his seven foot _Masamune _blade. The floor-length coat hung open showing the simple black turtleneck tucked into his leather pants. Rather than the armored knee boots he was known for, plain black dress shoes showed under the cuffs of his pants.

Vincent's brows rose. He looked almost…ordinary. A smile tugged at his lips. Well, as ordinary as a seven foot angel could look. His enormous wings were folded neatly at his back, one of midnight feathers, the other wing merely a shadow. The coat didn't seem to be interfering with them at all. Vincent wondered if the back of his coat opened to make room for them the way his _gambeson_ jacket did.

Sephiroth lifted an elegant brow. "You must have missed me."

Vincent blinked. "Huh?"

Sephiroth grinned briefly flashing his long fangs. "You're staring."

Vincent looked away and lifted a shoulder. "I'm just not used to seeing you dressed like that."

"Ah, yes…" Sephiroth strode for the bed waving the book in his hand. "I don't think you ever saw me out of battle gear." He sat down on the edge of the bed. "I don't think my…body ever removed it."

Vincent looked over at him feeling a strange spark of humor. "Your evil twin?"

Sephiroth stilled then nodded. "A good name for it."

Vincent rolled his eyes. "It was a joke." An old joke from childhood.

Sephiroth scowled. "I only wish it _was_ a joke."

Vincent sighed. Perhaps that comment hadn't been the best idea in the universe? "Fighting it wasn't a joke either. The damn thing refused to die."

Sephiroth nodded and turned to stare blankly at the closed door. "I tried to kill it the moment I discovered it. I beheaded it." He chuckled, a short ugly sound. "But the stupid thing only grafted itself directly into my body!"

Chills raced down Vincent's spine. "It _grafted_ itself to you?"

Sephiroth nodded and looked away. "I was stupid to touch it. It had melted itself halfway into my chest before I knew what was happening." He curled his lip. "Utterly disgusting. I tried to rip it back out, but it…" He stilled, holding his breath. "One moment I was me and the next, I was…not." His voice turned hoarse, and hollow. "I was wide awake in my own head when I stabbed my best friend through the heart." He looked down at his lap and took a ragged breath. "It was my body, but I couldn't do a thing -- not one damned thing, to stop myself."

Vincent stilled. _Zack…_ Sephiroth was talking about Zack, Cloud's mentor. He'd heard the story from Cloud, how Zack had been General Sephiroth's second in command, and his closest friend. Cloud had been part of that friendship too.

Sephiroth took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Cloud tried to stop me from killing him." He snorted sourly. "That stupid stubborn child didn't stand a chance in hell."

Vincent nodded. Cloud had still been just a normal human trying to fight someone bio-engineered to kill monsters. Cloud had told him how he'd still had Sephiroth's sword in his stomach when the insane scientist Hojo, had scooped up both him and the mortally wounded Zack, and dumped them into specimen tanks.

Sephiroth looked down at his fingers clenched around the book in his lap. "I used the last of my willpower to walk myself directly into the reactor's life-stream flow. It was the only thing I could think of to destroy it." He took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. "That's the last living memory I have, dying in the reactor." He exhaled heavily and dropped his gaze to the floor. His lips curved into a bitter smile. "And the stupid thing re-fucking-generated!"

Sephiroth turned on the edge of the bed to face Vincent, his teeth bared, his body vibrating with tension. "And it keeps regenerating!" He threw out a hand. "All the fucking pieces keep regenerating!"

Vincent stilled. He felt the blood leave his face and the hair lifted on his body. "The _pieces_…?"

Sephiroth stabbed a finger into the mattress. "You remember those three that were running around last summer? The ones that Cloud finished off?"

Vincent frowned. "Your clones?"

Sephiroth smiled baring all his teeth. His cat-green eyes narrowed to slits. "They were mine, but they were not clones. They were revenants, parts of my dead body that regenerated into separate entities."

Vincent frowned. "I was under the impression that they came from a lab?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "They were found while still in-sentient and brought to a lab. That's where they gained consciousness." He shook his head. "Those creatures had no clue what they were any more than the doctors that examined them." He snorted. "Scientific morons…"

Vincent scowled. "Somebody trained them to fight, and gave them weapons."

The dark angel shook his head. "And probably died for their stupidity."

Vincent shook his head. "So, where were you during all this?"

"I had other, more pressing concerns." Sephiroth waved a hand in clear dismissal. "I knew that sooner or later Cloud and his bunch would eventually take care of them."

Cloud _and his bunch…? _Vincent folded his arms across his chest and smoothed his face into non-expression, but he couldn't quite keep the growl out of his voice. "You're welcome."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes the scowled at Vincent. "I simply did not have the time to deal with them. I was already fully occupied with hunting down and eliminating any other pieces I could find before they succeeded in regenerating into walking entities."

Vincent stiffened. "There were more?"

Sephiroth snorted. "Let me ask you this." He leaned close and curled his lip. "Whose idea was it to take out my body using _explosives_?"

Vincent looked away and shrugged very casually. "Roughly, everyone on the planet."

Sephiroth blinked.

Vincent looked back at him and lifted a brow. "Bullets and edged weapons didn't seem to have much effect, neither did fire or ice attacks. There weren't many options beyond that."

Sephiroth blew out a breath and a sour smile appeared. "Point taken." He leaned back and sighed heavily. "Yes there were more, a lot more." He rolled his eyes. "Scattered every which bloody way, and I will _not_…" He pointed a finger at Vincent. "…Go into any more detail than that." He turned his back on Vincent and wiped his hands down his pant-legs.

Vincent didn't want any more details. The mere idea that more those…revenants might be running around was already enough to make his skin crawl.

Sephiroth scraped a hand through his long white tail. "How the hell did we wander intothis thoroughly depressing conversation?

Vincent winced. _My poor taste in jokes._ He cleared his throat. "I couldn't possibly say." It wasn't exactly an untruth.

Sephiroth turned around with a sly smile and leaned very close. "Would you agree to a change in subjects?"

Vincent leaned back. The dark angel was definitely up to something. "Such as?"

Sephiroth tilted his head. "How about, what the hell possessed you to come _here_?"

Vincent blinked. "Oh… The archives are here."

Sephiroth frowned. "What are you looking for?"

Vincent snorted. "If I'm going to find you a physical match, the best place to begin is by searching for Lucrecia's closest family."

Sephiroth frowned. "The lab assistant…?"

Vincent's brows lifted. "Lucrecia Crescent was your birth mother. I thought you knew?"

Sephiroth frowned and looked away, staring at nothing. "Oh yes, right…" He shook his head. "I…forgot it was her."

Vincent sighed softly. All his life, Sephiroth had been told that his mother's name was Jenova. Cloud had told him that Sephiroth hadn't uncovered that lie until he was face to face with the…thing in the tank. Vincent had known all along, but he'd been sealed in his own tank. By the time he'd been released, Jenova had already rendered Sephiroth utterly insane. Vincent shook his head. _So many lies…_ "If I'm not mistaken, Lucrecia's mother was a ShinRa by birth."

Sephiroth's cat-green eyes opened wide. "Blood and hell…" His mouth curved in a tight smile. "I'm related to Rufus?" He gave an exaggerated shudder. "What a revolting revelation."

Vincent rolled his eyes, but a smile pushed at the corners of his mouth. "The relationship may not be all that close."

Sephiroth grinned. "I certainly hope not!"

"Anyway…" Vincent scraped a hand through his hair. "I'm here to find the ShinRa family registry. It should list your closest relations."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "If I'd know that sooner I could have spent the past two weeks searching for it." He lifted the book he'd set on the bed. "Instead of merely entertaining myself."

"Two weeks…?"

Sephiroth turned to look at Vincent. "You have been unconscious for the past sixteen days."

_Sixteen days?_ Vincent's eyes opened wide. "And no one found me? Blood and hell, don't tell me they left this place completely without security?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "No, they did not." He snorted. "However, the few guards stationed here are far too afraid of ghosts to go anywhere near this floor."

"Afraid of ghosts…?" Hot suspicion boiled at the back of Vincent's mind. His brows lowered. "What did you do?"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Nothing fatal, I assure you."

_Crap!_ Vincent grabbed the lapel of Sephiroth's coat and tugged, forcing the dark angel to meet his gaze. "_What_ did you do?"

Sephiroth smiled from only a breath away. "I dropped my book."

Vincent blinked. "Huh?"

Sephiroth leaned just a hair closer. "I had just chosen a book off the shelf when a pair of guards walked into the room. I disembodied into mist and the book fell." His smile broadened. "Apparently that was enough to convince those idiots that the library was haunted." His gaze slid to the side. "So I have been spending the past two weeks encouraging that belief."

"Encouraging…?" Vincent's blood turned to ice water. Sephiroth had been actively playing ghost for the past_ sixteen days?_ Vincent fisted both his hands in Sephiroth's coat and tugged to draw the green gaze back to his. "Did anyone actually see you?"

Sephiroth pursed his lips and his green gaze slid away. "Perhaps one or two here and there, maybe more."

Vincent's heart slammed in his chest. He was _seen_. "You _let_ them see you? _Are you out of your fucking feeble mind?_"

Sephiroth sighed heavily. "Vincent, they've seen nothing more than a floating apparition that happens to like books."

Vincent's heart beat in his mouth. "Then they didn't actually recognize you?"

Sephiroth snorted. "Of course they recognized me. I _am_ rather distinctive."

He was seen and _recognized_. Vincent's heart very nearly stopped, then it hammered hard enough to beat in his ears. "You brainless idiot! _Why_ did you do that?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Boredom?"

Vincent blinked. "Boredom…" Heat flared at the back of his skull and a growl rumbled in his chest. "You exposed your existence because you were _bored_?"

"Well…?" Sephiroth tilted his head and looked away. "Waiting for you to wake up was very, very…dull."

Vincent suddenly craved a nice solid brick wall to bash his head against. "Of all the stupid, arrogant, shit-for-brains, insane, suicidal stunts to pull…"

Sephiroth's brows lifted. "Vincent, are you actually concerned for me?"

Vincent jerked on Sephiroth's coat. "Of course I am! Of all the stupid, lame-brain, idiotic questions...!"

Sephiroth grinned. "Well damn, Vincent."

Vincent released Sephiroth's coat to throw up his hands and look up at the ceiling. "Why me, Gaia? Why?"

Sephiroth's brows lifted. "Vincent?"

Vincent turned away to scrape his hands through hair. "Can someone please tell me, why _I_ have to get all the lunatics?"

"Vincent!" There was a definite note of affront in Sephiroth's voice. "It was just a harmless prank!"

Vincent rounded on the big idiot and stabbed a finger toward him. "It was_ not_ harmless! You were _seen,_ you idiot, and _recognized_! Do you _want _another manhunt!"

Sephiroth's brows lowered and his smile evaporated. "Vincent, calm down."

"Calm down?" Vincent slammed a fist into the mattress. The bed vibrated under them. "Why the hell should I calm down? You were seen and _recognized_!"

Sephiroth reached out to grab hold of Vincent's upper arms. "Yes, I was recognized, but there's no need to get this upset over it. They saw harmless book-reading phantom, not a sword-wielding maniac."

Anger and fear shoved a snarl from Vincent mouth. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Vincent." Sephiroth leaned close and smiled. "Pay attention, and think carefully. What can anyone actually do to me? I am already dead, remember?"

Vincent grabbed on to Sephiroth's sleeves. "No, _you_ think carefully for once, you arrogant, egotistical, prick." A growl rumbled in his chest. "Yes, you're a ghost, but now they know you _walk_. They know you still exist! What happens when you finally possess a body? If they even suspect that you could be walking among the living no expense will be spared to find you – and kill you again!"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Gee, I didn't know you cared."

_Bastard!_ Vincent dug his nails into Sephiroth's coat sleeves. "Of course I care, you stupid shit! Do you have any idea what your death would do to me?"

Sephiroth stilled utterly, his gaze wide. "What _my_ death would do…?"

Vincent froze staring at Sephiroth in complete shock. _What the fuck did I just say?_ He threw up his hands to cover his mouth as though he could stuff all the words back in.

"Vincent." Sephiroth tightened his grip on Vincent's upper arms, pulling him close. His gaze narrowed to green-gold slits. "Do you love me?"

Vincent stared. _Love…?_ Was that the reason behind this insane worry eating at him? Was that why his heart ached when Sephiroth spoke of his tragic past? Was that why seeing him smile actually felt…good? Was that why he hadn't destroyed the ghost back on the floating island? Was that why he was here in Nibelheim? Could it be…? His heart twisted in his chest. _Ah, crap._

"Answer me." Sephiroth dug his long nails into Vincent's arms, forcing Vincent's gaze back to him. "Vincent, do you love me?" His tone was quiet, but his green gaze was merciless.

Vincent flinched. _Crap, crap, crap…_ He hunched his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Sephiroth blinked. "You do?"

Vincent jerked his gaze away and felt his face heat ferociously. Embarrassment fueled his temper. "Yes, damn you!"

Sephiroth pulled Vincent up onto his knees and glared directly into Vincent's eyes. "You love me?"

Vincent twisted but he couldn't break Sephiroth's grip on his arms. He snarled in the dark angel's face. "I already said yes, twice!"

Sephiroth jerked Vincent up against him and covered his open mouth with his own, kissing Vincent so hard, it was practically an attack.

Vincent kissed him back out of sheer self defense, his tongue quite literally sparring with the hot wet velvet of Sephiroth's tongue. Hot wetness smeared Vincent's cheeks. _What…? _Vincent blinked, then opened his eyes wide.

Sephiroth was weeping.

Vincent stared and felt his heart bleeding with every beat. Sephiroth was _weeping_. And it hurt. _Blood and hell…_ Vincent shut his eyes and devoted himself to pushing everything he felt, everything he didn't know how to say, into his kiss. It was all he could think of to stop the flow of hot tears against his cheek.

Sephiroth's lips and tongue devoured Vincent's mouth, pressing Vincent backwards, and then down among the blankets. He lifted his head and swiped a hand across his damp cheek. He smiled, and it was breathtaking. "Damn, you made me hard."

Vincent blinked. "What?" He was barely able to string two thoughts together after that kiss, but the smile was nearly as distracting. Sephiroth looked so…happy.

Sephiroth knelt up in the edge of the bed. "Forgive my impatience, but…" He jerked at his coat, unbuckling the sides from the back. "I've waited almost three weeks for you to wake up." He slid the coat from his shoulders and away from his wings.

Vincent sat up, his knees splayed wide. Oh, so the back of the coat did open to make room for his wings. Sephiroth's words suddenly sank in. "What? Wait a minute…!"

Sephiroth tossed his coat to the foot of the bed. "Absolutely not." He reached down to unbuckle his belt. "I refuse to wait another moment."

Vincent leaned back and stared at the firm line of the dark angel's erection hidden behind the leather of his pants. He could quite literally smell Sephiroth's impatience rolling off of him in warm waves of pure lust. He jerked his gaze back up to Sephiroth's face. "I'm not ready…!" Actually he was getting there very fast. His heart was hammering in his chest, the blood pounding downward at an unholy speed.

Sephiroth grinned, showing the points of his fangs. "You will be, momentarily in fact." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thoroughly modern plastic tube of lube.

Vincent's eyes opened wide. "You carry that in your pocket?"

"Of course." Holding the lube in his left hand, Sephiroth tugged open the button to his pants. "I like to be prepared." He raised one knee and set it on the bed.

Vincent scowled and crossed his arms. "I'm surprised you didn't just_ do_ me while I was sleeping."

Sephiroth lifted a silver brow. "Does masturbating next to your sleeping body count?"

Vincent's mouth dropped open. "You did…what?"

Sephiroth leaned down, setting one hand on the bed. His silver tail slid down past his shoulder. "I did consider taking you in your sleep, but I actually prefer you awake, and moaning."

Vincent scowled. "You have got to be the biggest pervert I know!"

"I don't mind you knowing other perverts." Sephiroth brought his other knee up on the bed, easing forward between Vincent's raised knees. "As long as I'm the only pervert you are intimate with."

Vincent leaned back on his elbows and suddenly thought of Cloud. His cheeks heated but he didn't dare look away. "Jealous?" His voice came out a tad higher than he liked.

"Possessive." Sephiroth arched over Vincent, his eyes narrowing to gleaming slits. "I don't like anyone handling that which is mine."

Vincent leaned up to snarl up in the dark angel's face. "I am _not_ yours!"

Sephiroth smiled, showing fangs. "Oh, but you are." The sound of a zipper parting was shockingly loud. "And you will never escape me. Never." He dropped his mouth onto Vincent's in another near-violent and taking kiss.

The kiss was so hard Vincent was pushed down among the blankets.

The dark angel followed him down to rest on his left forearm, setting it just above Vincent's head while spreading Vincent's thighs wide with his own.

Vincent raised his hands and set them around Sephiroth's neck. He meant to grab the dark angel by the throat to throttle some sense into him, he really did, but somehow his fingers ended up caressing the strong throat, and then tangling in the long silver tail. The leather thong came free under the claws of his left hand and the long silver hair spilled down over both of them. Vincent sank his fingers into the fall of snow-bright silk, and moaned into his lover's mouth.


	12. Chapter 12

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

* * *

**Twelve**

* * *

Pressed down among the blankest, Vincent could barely think past the mouth devouring his. The hot wet velvet tongue wrestling with his was flavored with an enticing combination of masculine arousal and raw power. The frost-white silk of Sephiroth's unbelievably long hair slid across Vincent's bare skin delivering shivers.

Vincent clutched the fabric of Sephiroth's black shirt. The idea that a man with wings could wear a long-sleeved turtle-neck was strangely distracting. He slid his hands down Sephiroth's broad muscular back and encountered buttons. _Ah…_ His shirt wasn't so ordinary after all. It had two extra back seams held together with a row of buttons marching from the base of his wings to the shirt's hem.

Sephiroth groaned and broke the kiss, shifting his attention to nibble the underside of Vincent's throat. "Damn, your hands feel good." His wet tongue swept up the long muscle on the side of Vincent's throat. "Do that some more."

Vincent shuddered. His fingers dug into Sephiroth's strong back muscles, his nails scoring down the elegant curve of his spine. Blood and hell, the man had a talented tongue.

The dark angel moaned in obvious appreciation, his strong thighs encased in smooth soft leather sliding restlessly between Vincent's bare legs. His broad right hand reached down to cup Vincent's ass, holding them pressed crotch to crotch, the fingers digging in hard enough to bruise.

Vincent's cheeks heated. Sephiroth was rock hard behind his leather pants. Vincent was rather painfully rigid himself, but utterly naked. It was embarrassing to be so exposed, and yet shamefully exhilarating to know exactly how much he was wanted.

Sephiroth's mouth opened on Vincent's throat, the long teeth raked deliciously.

Vincent groaned under the waves of erotic heat that spilled through him. It felt so good. It felt too good. His entire body was trembling, coiled tight and throbbing with impatience for the heat and fire Sephiroth knew very well how to deliver. _Damn it…_

Vincent felt the strangest urge to laugh and weep at the same time. Sephiroth had succeeded in his goal to make him unable to resist the demonic angel's touch. He'd been thoroughly, if rather forcefully, seduced.

Vincent dug his heels into the edge of the mattress and arched upward, rocking hard against the long shaft hiding beneath the butter-soft leather. _Damn it… Damn it… Damn it…! _

Love was such a fucking bitch.

Sephiroth's hand left Vincent's butt. There was a click and a subtle spurt. He sighed and the heat of his breath scorched Vincent's throat. Two wet fingers pressed against Vincent's anus. "Open for me."

Vincent's cheeks filled with heat. He closed his eyes and pushed. The two wet fingers slid in, and around, moving deeper, and deeper, slathering the interior of his body with thick lube.

"Mmm… Hot in here."

Vincent turned his face away and hissed. "Shut up!"

Sephiroth chuckled right under his ear. "Still embarrassed?" He turned his hand his fingers pressed upward.

A hot electric jolt of raw ecstasy blazed up Vincent's spine, causing him to arch. His cock jumped, releasing a small spat of cum. A was gasp forced from his throat.

Sephiroth pulled his fingers free.

Vincent dropped to the blankets shuddering with tension, completely shocked by how close he'd been to actually cumming.

Sephiroth chuckled and pushed up to his knees, kneeling between Vincent's spread thighs. "Looks like you need it as bad as I do." He grinned and wiped at the small splot of wetness marking his black shirt.

Vincent glared at him and clenched his teeth.

Sephiroth raised his brows. "No comment?" He reached down into his open leather pants and freed his cock. The long thick shaft arched upward in a smooth ivory curve. The fiercely blushing crown held a clear bead of fluid.

Vincent couldn't look away. He swallowed.

Sephiroth's smile tightened and his gaze narrowed. He leaned down, setting his left forearm on the bed by Vincent's head, his lips only breath away. He whispered. "Kiss me."

Eyes open, Vincent leaned up and pressed his open mouth to Sephiroth's. He extended his tongue, reached in, and slowly stroked the hot wet velvet of the other man's tongue.

Sephiroth matched each gentle stroke. His eyes closed and he moaned into Vincent's mouth.

Vincent's eyes drifted closed, focusing completely on the surprisingly gentle exchange of tongue against tongue. He heard the slapping of a hand swiftly stroking wet flesh, then felt pressure against his anus. Startled, his breath hitched and his eyes opened wide. He pushed in sheer reflex.

Sephiroth lifted his head breaking the kiss and lunged forward, entering Vincent and sheathing himself to the balls in with one swift hard thrust.

Vincent gasped with the sudden ache of heated fullness. He closed his eyes and groaned.

The dark angel grabbed Vincent under the thighs, pushing his knees forward and up high. He leaned back and rose up on his knees, lifting Vincent's ass right up off the bed.

Vincent arched up onto his shoulders and grabbed for the sheets under him. "What the fuck…?"

Sephiroth's eyes dilated wide and his smile slipped. "You look…incredible. I can see just about every muscle on your body." He licked his lips and whispered. "My body…" He rolled his hips, grinding deep.

The hard shaft within Vincent rubbed against that hot delicious spot inside him. A brutal wave of ecstasy spilled up his shaft and dripped onto his chest. He threw his head back, his mouth open wide and gasped out a cry.

Sephiroth groaned and bared his teeth. He pulled back and thrust hard. "Mine…"

Vincent rocked with the blow, a wave of intense pleasure slamming him all the way up to the base of his skull. He arched upward, his toes curling, and his fingers knotting in the sheets. His gasping cry was very nearly a shout.

The dark angel pulled back and thrust again, with greater strength. "Mine…" Then again, and again… His thrusts increased in speed and power. "You…belong…to…me!"

Vincent writhed among the sheets, awash in wave after wave of brutal intensity, his cries rising in pitch and increasing in volume. His fingers tore the sheets. Climax rose viciously fast. On the very edge of release, his body tensed, arching like a tightly strung bow. His breath stopped. Eyes wide he stared up at the man taking him.

Sephiroth's green eyes were dilated so wide his gaze was near solid black. Golden foxfire burned in their hearts. He bared his long teeth and a growl rumbled. "My…" He thrust and held. His eyes closed to narrow slits, he gasped. "Vincent…!"

Vincent's release exploded through him, searing him to the soul. He threw his head back and shuddered violently. There wasn't enough breath in his lungs to scream. Only a whisper escaped. "Seph…eh…roth…"

-VV-

Facing the covered windows, his back to the bed, Vincent set his mantle over his shoulders and tugged the tattered cape over his tightly folded wings.

Behind him on the far side of the room close to the door, leather rustled along with feathers, not quite drowning out the sound of soft smug chuckles.

His cheeks white hot, Vincent loosed a low growl and pulled his tri-barreled Cerberus pistol from the holster strapped to his right thigh. He opened the barrel with a loud click, turned to the side and blatantly checked his loaded rounds.

The chuckles continued, in fact they began to sound like distinctly like snickers.

Vincent glanced past his shoulder, shooting a narrow glare at the silver-haired man buckling into his leather coat. "Enough already!" He snapped the gun closed, gave it a quick twirl, checking its balance and heft, then slammed it back into the holster. "So, I said your name." He threw up his gloved hands and turned to face the door. "Big deal!" He curled his lip. "You said mine too."

Running a hand along the long silver tail he had retied, Sephiroth turned, his smile wide with teeth. "Ah, but I have been saying your name all along." He pointed a long finger at Vincent. "You rarely say mine at all!"

Vincent blinked. "That's not…" His throat closed on the word 'true', preventing him from saying it, preventing him from…lying? His eyes opened wide. Was Sephiroth right? He scowled. "It's not like I've never said it." He could recall saying it on two separate occasions. He was pretty sure there was even a third.

Sephiroth's gaze narrowed and his smile became a lip curl that showed the full length of his teeth. "But this time you said it while cumming with my dick up your ass."

Vincent felt a sudden twinge in his sore butt. It took effort not to reflexively reach down and tug at the seat of his pants. The big brute hadn't even tried to hold back his strength. He turned away sharply. "So?" He folded his arms, setting his armored hand over his human one, and lifted his chin. "Can we go now?"

Sephiroth laughed and jerked on his coat lapels, settling his coat. "You're so cute when you're flustered."

Vincent growled. He marched around the bed brushing by Sephiroth to grab the doorknob. If the big brute wanted to stay in that room and gloat he could do it by himself. He yanked the door open and glared directly in Sephiroth's green eyes. "I am _not_ cute." He stepped out into the hall and stalked away.

Sephiroth followed at Vincent's heels. "You are indeed cute."

Vincent rolled his eyes and lengthened his strides heading for the stairwell he could see at the hall's end.

Sephiroth followed right behind him. "And utterly adorable, not to mention sweet, tender, delicious…"

Vincent fairly flew down the stairs. He stopped at the landing just above the third floor and scowled, nearly as pissed at himself as he was at the blond behemoth right behind him. _Stupid, stupid, stupid…_ He was letting his temper get the better of him and rushing into enemy territory.

Sephiroth leaned over his shoulder and whispered directly into Vincent's ear. "And you're mine."

_Bastard! _A white hot flare burned up the back of Vincent's skull. He clenched his hands into fists, his gold titanium claws releasing a slight ting. _He just doesn't know when to quit!_ He crossed his arms over his heart and called on the more subtle version of his beast. Scarlet lightning erupted from him and consumed him, dissolving his form until he became little more than a barely perceptible wraith. His body light and invisible to the human eye, he spread his wings and launched toward the deep shadows of high rafters trailing the semi-transparent crimson tatters of his cloak. _Let's see the smug son of a bitch keep up with me now!_

Clinging to the decorative floral plasterwork on the broad ceiling, Vincent looked back.

Back on the landing, Sephiroth chuckled. "Running away, are we?" He threw out his arms and shimmered into gently luminescent semi-transparency. "Did we lose our temper?" He spread his wings and rose into the air majestically. His long silver tail and the long skirts of coat lifted on an invisible wind. "How adorably childish." He sailed after Vincent. His wings swept downward passing through the banister and nearby walls, a ghost in truth.

_Crap!_ Vincent flitted across the ceiling, pushing off of walls, pillars, and random overturned furniture. His third eye wide open for infrared laser beam alarm trips, he sailed through the archway to the main hallway, ricocheted off a random pillar and aimed for the landing of the grand staircase.

He landed briefly on the edge of the broad banister and scowled. The entire staircase was spider-webbed with laser trips all the way down. He dove off the side, swirled down to second floor, and kept going. The main archive was in first immediate subbasement.

Unfortunately Sephiroth knew that too.

Vincent slid between the laser beams criss-crossing the door to the tiny and dark store room. The boxes and broken bits all held a thick coating of dust, and the small window was almost black with grime. However, the floor had a nearly clean path that leading straight to the hidden door.

Somebody was obviously going in and out of the archive – or the labs.

Vincent shuddered slightly, then swirled down to the floor to unlock the secret door. He passed through to the narrow hidden stairwell. It was solid darkness, not one trace of light, not that that mattered to his night-seeing gaze.

He flitted downward along the steeply vaulted ceiling, then eased past the laser trips to enter the long hall. Still no lights. Keeping to the dusty ceiling, he moved with haste past the room with…his crypt.

The door to the main archive, the one with the less sensitive information, was wide open and light poured from the open doorway.

Vincent frowned. The main archive was lit? Sliding along the ceiling, he eased close, his third eye wide open. He didn't see any lasers in the door way, but he couldn't help thinking it was a trap.

He peeked through the doorway.

A thousand and one bookshelves marched in haphazard rows mixed randomly with stack after stack of back to back filing cabinets – and each one held a small mounted light fixture that was lit. The walls were deeply shadowed, as was the ceiling, but shelves and filing cabinets all sat in their own pools of light. The broad center aisle held a double row of long tables lined with chairs, all thickly coated with dust. However, each and every desk light was on.

Vincent went through the doorway and swirled straight up to the domed brick ceiling to get a better look. The room appeared to be empty of life and there seemed to be no laser trips at all.

His gaze was drawn to the plain and unassuming wooden door on the far side of the room at the end of the center aisle. He hoped the ShinRa family registry wasn't in the other archive, the one on the floor below this one. He really, really didn't want to have to pass through the lab right beyond that door. He shuddered briefly. He had no interest in seeing the room he'd been made in.

Vincent dragged his gaze away from the far door and studied the almost brightly lit room from the ceiling. He was missing something. He had to be. It had been far too easy to get in here.

A glow appeared on the far wall.

Vincent eased back into the dome's deepest shadows.

Sephiroth emerged from the wall with his wings spread wide, though only the left wing held luminescence. The right was nothing more than a deep shadow. He floated across the room, his wings flapping only occasionally, his gentle radiance lighting the bookshelves below him.

Vincent snorted. _Subtlety is _so_ not your name._

Sephiroth descended gracefully to the floor of the main aisle, folded his wings, then looked straight up at Vincent. "Having fun up there among the cobwebs?"

Vincent sighed. _Secrecy isn't your name either._ He swirled down to the top of bookcase nearest Sephiroth, then down to the floor. With a small display of discrete scarlet lightning, he reformed into his human form. "I was looking for traps."

Sephiroth waved his hand casually and started gliding down the main aisle, his hair and coat wafting behind him. "I disengaged those two weeks ago."

Vincent stalked after him, frowning. "You did?"

Sephiroth nodded. "It wasn't difficult. This is where I spent my early childhood." He smiled briefly. "This house holds no secrets for me."

Vincent glanced down. Although Sephiroth's feet moved as though he were walking, he was floating a good two inches off the floor. Apparently he was taking his ghost act quite seriously. "I couldn't imagine growing up here."

Sephiroth shrugged. "It wasn't all _that_ horrible. This place holds quite a number of places for a small child to hide, you know." He flashed Vincent a tight smile. "Which is why Hojo removed me from here." He pursed his lips. "Of course that _could _have been because I activated the self-destruct in the main lab."

Vincent blinked. Was he referring to the explosion after he'd escaped from his tank? He blew out a small breath. Not that escaping the tank had been all that big a deal. He'd been recaptured almost immediately.

"Anyway…" Sephiroth waved a hand. "Where do you think the registry might be?"

Vincent looked at the tall bookcases they were passing. "I would think they would have kept it easily accessible, since it would be needed every time there was a birth, a marriage, or a death."

The luminescent angel nodded. "Logical. "He flashed a smile. "However the ShinRas don't seem to follow ordinary human logic as a rule."

Vincent rolled his eyes. "I'd say that was a severe understatement."

"It was intended as one." Sephiroth snorted. "I'm assuming that this book must be quite large?"

Vincent shrugged. "Most family registers are."

Sephiroth waved a hand toward a narrow unmarked aisle. "I believe I remember several over-sized books in this aisle."

Vincent followed him into the narrow aisle. Something that had been nagging him finally came to the surface. "How did you know I was here, in Nibelheim?"

Sephiroth stopped and peered at a shelf. "You carry a part of me in your body."

Vincent froze. There was only one thing that Sephiroth left in his body. Vincent's cheeks filled with heat. "You're not referring to your, um…?" He couldn't say it.

Sephiroth turned and smiled. "If you mean my semen, yes I am."

Vincent turned away and rolled his eyes. He stomped his armored foot for good measure. "That's…" He turned back, well aware that he was wincing. "That's _disgusting_!"

Sephiroth lifted one silver brow. "Oh?" His voice was very dry. "You didn't seem to mind me putting it there."

Vincent raised his armored left hand, turned around, and stalked down an aisle. "I don't want to discuss this any further."

Sephiroth stalked after him. "I can always add more?"

Vincent stopped cold, but didn't turn back. "Do you _enjoy_ embarrassing me?"

Sephiroth chuckled. "Yes, actually I do."

Vincent groaned and stalked on. "I thought so."

"My apologies but you are _such_ a target-rich environment."

Vincent growled and spoke through his clenched teeth. "Payback is a bitch you know."

Sephiroth's chuckles turned into outright laughter.

-VV-

They searched dusty bookshelf after dusty bookshelf, investigating aisle after aisle.

Vincent stepped into an aisle two down from the one Sephiroth was looking through, and groaned. Very softly he whispered. "Please Gaia, don't let the registry be in the downstairs archive." There was hope yet. The main archive was freakishly huge and they had only investigated a very small portion. Clearly it was going to take weeks to go through it all.

Footfalls echoed in the main aisle.

Vincent froze suddenly realizing what he'd missed all along. He hadn't seen a single guard. _Crap!_ He called on his beast and dissolved into his wraith form with near-painful speed. He swirled up the monstrous bookcase that stood before him, then eased along the narrow top toward the main aisle. Lying flat, he peeked into the well lit aisle.

A tall, broad-shouldered man strode past the long tables marching down the aisle leading two semi-armored and helmeted guards. One of the guards held an ordinary submachine gun along with the saber at his hip. The other guard looked like he was carrying a short-hose flame-thrower, but the tank on his back was clear glass, and it appeared to be empty

It was the tall man in the lead that held all of Vincent's attention. He wore a double breasted blue suit that had been subtly tailored to disguise the rather large pistol he had concealed against his left side. His hair was black as pitch and drawn back into a tail that draped just past his shoulders. High-tech sunglasses, designed to see both infrared and night-vision, covered his eyes, but there was no disguising the man's chiseled Wutaian features.

_Crap, a damned ShinRa Turk!_ Vincent risked a quick look at the aisle Sephiroth was in. His blood ran cold. Sephiroth was fully visible. In fact, the arrogant idiot had pulled out a rather large book and was perusing it.

The man and the two guards strode by the aisle and spotted Sephiroth. All three stopped short and stared.

Quite plainly floating two inches off the floor, Sephiroth ignored them.

The man in the suit folded his hands behind him, and cleared his throat. "If I might have a moment of your time sir?"

The two guards behind him were shaking so badly they practically rattled.

Sephiroth turned and frowned. "Ah, Tseng." He turned back to his book and waved his hand in dismissal. "I'm a bit busy at the moment."

Tseng lifted his chin. "I'm afraid I must insist."

Sephiroth pressed his finger down the page of the book. "Insist as you please."

Tseng reached into his coat and pulled out a large caliber automatic pistol. He took careful aim at Sephiroth's head.

Sephiroth casually turned a page.

Vincent's stomach clenched. He reminded himself quite firmly that he had seen Sephiroth pass harmlessly through a wall, and more than one bookcase, only a little while ago.

Tseng pulled the trigger. The gun's retort was painfully loud. The smell of gunpowder was rank. A small piece of the far wall exploded.

Sephiroth didn't even look up from his book. "Satisfied, Tseng?"

Tseng tucked his over-sized pistol back into his coat. "Thank you, sir." He stepped to side side.

The man with the empty flamethrower stepped forward and pointed the nozzle at Sephiroth.

Vincent didn't like the look of that one bit.

The second guard lifted his hand and held it over the empty tank. Something went incandescent right at the top of the tank.

Vincent felt the ripple of magic in the air. Alarm raced through him. That other guard was clearly activating _materia!_

Sephiroth looked up. His eyes widened. He vanished. The large book slapped the floor of the aisle loudly.

The second guard stepped back from the first and looked over at Tseng. "Done sir."

Tseng nodded. "Thank you for your assistance." He strode back into the main aisle with the two guards at his heels. They marched for the archive's main doorway.

Vincent stared after them. Inside the once empty tank was a swirl of green and silver mist. _Blood and hell…!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

* * *

**Thirteen**

* * *

_They took him! _

Laid out flat along the very top of the dusty bookcase, Vincent stared down the long top barrel of his Cerberus pistol. Icy rage burned in his veins. He targeted the tallest of the three men walking with haste down the center aisle of the Nibelheim's huge main archive toward the exit. The back of the man's head was perfectly exposed.

_They took him!_

Two completely useless guards followed at the Turk's heels. The guard on the left carried a sub-machinegun in his hands and a sword on his hip, but the other held the long nozzle to what he had assumed was a flamethrower, though the clear glass tank strapped to his back had been empty.

He'd been wrong, oh so very, very wrong.

The tank wasn't empty any more.

Inside the clear glass container swirled a silver and green mist threaded with deep violet. It was Sephiroth. Somehow they had captured the ghost with what pretty much amounted to a _materia_-powered vacuum-cleaner.

Vincent aimed carefully for the back of the tall man's head, just above the white collar rising above the collar of his midnight blue suit, right below the short and tightly bound horsetail. The two guards following at his heels wore helmets, but those didn't quite cover the back of their necks. A single bullet in the right place would sever their spinal cords, killing them before they'd have time to make a sound.

He would not miss. His third eye was wide open. He couldn't miss. Killing all three would be easy. In fact, he would thoroughly enjoy splattering their brains all over the floor.

_And then what? _

Breaking the tank open might free Sephiroth, but it might not. _Materia_ had been used to catch Sephiroth and degrade him into mist. He had no idea what _materia _they'd used or how it had been used. He'd never seen that done before. Would releasing Sephiroth from the tank actually release him – or destroy him outright?

Was he willing to gamble on Sephiroth's existence?

_No._ Vincent raised the gun's barrel. _Piss… _He needed to_ think_ before he acted and did something completely irreversible. His bitter rage coiled tight into a knot of glacial hard practicality. Yes, they'd taken him, but they hadn't _destroyed_ him, they'd contained him, which meant he _could_ be released.

Tseng, the tall one in the midnight blue suit was a high-ranking Turk, which meant that ShinRa's new president Rufus, had taken a personal interest in Sephiroth. Vincent frowned. They had_ contained_ Sephiroth, not destroyed him… Rufus apparently had a use for the dark angel, but what?

The Turk and the two guards were making straight for the doors. They were leaving without checking the archive. Vincent brows lifted. That suggested that they didn't know that Sephiroth hadn't been alone. They didn't know about _him_.

The three men stepped through the doors and took a left, clearly heading for the hidden stair.

The lights in the archive went out.

Vincent smiled in the absolute blackness. They _didn't_ know about him. _Good._ He dug into his pocket for his cell phone and sat up on the top of the bookcase, his feet dangling over the edge. The phone's lighted screen was almost searing in the pitch blackness. He squinted and hit the speed dial, then set the phone against his ear.

The phone beeped through the numbers, puttered in connection, then clicked. "ShinRa."

Vincent's heart slammed in his chest. _Rufus…_ "This is Vincent Valentine."

Silence for two heartbeats. "Valentine, how…unexpected." The voice was polite, calm, and utterly menacing. "If I may ask, how did you get this number?"

Vincent wasn't about to tell him that he'd taken a phone from the pocket of one of his Turk's while they were stone drunk at Tifa's bar, _Seventh Heaven_. It had been a simple matter of transferring the numbers he'd found into his phone, then returning the phone to their pocket. Simple for him anyway. "I have news concerning Sephiroth, are you interested?"

"He's dead." A cold hard denial.

Vincent snorted. ShinRa knew how to keep his secrets, unlike a certain blond asshole. "Yes, he's dead, but not gone."

Silence.

Vincent scowled. Clearly he needed more bait then that to catch the man's interest. He took a calm and even breath. "This also concerns Sephiroth's three revenants, the ones that caused so many problems last summer."

ShinRa's voice was quiet but crisp. "I already know which lab they came from."

"They weren't made in that lab. They weren't clones."

"No?" ShinRa's voice held mild curiosity.

"No." Vincent rolled his eyes. _Song and dance, song and dance…_ Rufus obviously knew, probably from his intelligence reports on that lab, that the three definitely weren't clones. However, he doubted that Rufus knew what they actually were. "You were lucky in encountering only those three." It wasn't exactly an untruth. Vincent didn't know if there were more, but if there were, Rufus had indeed been lucky to have dealt with only three.

"I see." Hard tension threaded into his words.

Vincent smiled. _Do I have your attention now?_ He certainly hoped so. "You were the target for that first batch." This implied that he'd be the target for the next batch. "I thought you might want to know what I've learned of the matter, in case personal preparations might be necessary." This implied concern for his personal welfare.

"Have you told Strife?" The calm polite tone was back in his voice.

Vincent replied just as politely. "I'd rather not concern him unless there's actual need." Implying that he didn't intend to tell Cloud that he'd been fraternizing with the enemy, and also implying that he might continue to offer information to Rufus without Cloud's knowledge.

"What do you want in exchange, Valentine?"

Vincent smiled. Rufus was definitely hooked. "Information." _What have you done with Sephiroth?_

Rufus took a breath. "What kind of information?"

Vincent pursed his lips. "Something that concerns me personally." This implied that it was something he didn't intend to share with Cloud; which automatically made it potential blackmail material.

"Such as, Hojo's personal files on you?"

Vincent's heart nearly stopped. Blood and hell, he'd looked everywhere for those! "You have them?"

"I have immediate access to some of them." Rufus sounded pleased, almost smug. "I'm sure with a little time I can track down the rest."

Vincent swallowed. He had some, not all. It was blatant invitation to allow himself to be blackmailed into 'doing favors'. His heart thumped hard. Those files would tell him what he was and how he'd been made, and quite possibly how the making could be reversed. "I see."

_Sephiroth… _

Vincent closed his eyes. If he demanded Sephiroth back, he'd never see any of those files.

He could leave Sephiroth with Rufus and let Rufus deal with the return of Jenova?

_No._ Vincent shook his head. _Absolutely not! _Sephiroth was _his_ personal demon, _his!_ Sephiroth…needed him. A fist closed around his heart. Sephiroth…loved him. White hot fury boiled in his soul, burning the ache away. And they _took_ him. He _would_ get him back, no matter the cost.

_But my files…?_

Vincent took a deep breath and released a long sigh. _Forget the files._ _I am what I am. It's far too late to change that now._ He opened his eyes to the darkness of the archive. But those files would look like perfect blackmail material to Rufus ShinRa. "Those files would be most helpful."

"I'll have someone meet you, Valentine."

Vincent snorted. Rufus didn't want to be alone with him, but then, Rufus wasn't stupid. He knew damned well that neither he, nor his Turks would be able to stop Vincent if he attacked. Though, Rufus had no reason to think he might. Vincent was known for being one of the _Good Guys_, someone that saved people. In fact last summer, he'd saved two Turks from Kadaj and his two brothers.

He frowned. That tall Turk had looked familiar. His name, Tseng, had sounded familiar too. Could that have been one of them? He shook his head. It didn't actually matter. As far as he was concerned, it was just another useful mark in his favor.

He smiled tightly. Few people knew that he'd originally been a ball-busting Turk. Though, if Rufus did know that far into his past, that might actually be another point in his favor. Turks were known to be company-men to their deaths.

Vincent pursed his lips and decided to press his luck. "I thought you might consider this more of a personal concern." _I tell you, or I tell no one._

Rufus sighed. "I'm afraid my schedule is very full, Valentine. A private meeting would be quite difficult to arrange on such short notice."

Vincent's brows rose. _Oh?_ He must not be at the brand new ShinRa office building back in Midgar. "I don't mind coming to you."

Silence.

Silence.

Silence… Rufus took a breath. "You realize I can't meet you completely alone?"

Vincent smiled, showing his long teeth to the deep shadows. He took a slow breath to keep his excitement from leaking into his voice. "Perfectly acceptable, as long as they understand that my presence is to be kept absolutely confidential." Might as well say, 'I don't want Cloud to find out.'

"You have my word."

"Done."

"How long will it take you to get to North Corel?"

_North Corel?_ Vincent frowned. That was actually very close, only a day's flight away. "Two days." He wanted time to hunt to ensure he was at full strength.

"Oh, are you flying?"

Vincent blinked, then shook his head. Rufus meant by plane or helicopter. He smiled. "Yes." Though not by plane or helicopter.

"Call me at this number when you reach town. I'll give you directions on where we'll meet then."

"Thank you President ShinRa."

"I look forward to doing business with you, Vincent." The phone disconnected.

Vincent closed his phone. _So, I'm no longer Valentine, but Vincent._ He smiled. _You're showing your over-confidence Rufus._ He rose to his feet on the top of the dusty bookshelf and tucked the phone in his pocket. There was no time to waste. He spread his wings and assumed his wraith form. He flew straight out of the archive, his tattered red cape fluttering behind him. Keeping to the deepest shadows, he flitted from the subbasement to the upper floor. In only minutes he was outside

On the roof of the mansion he assumed his human form and looked north. Snow swirled around him, blown by the mountain wind. He opened his arms and let the darkness rise. The storm of black lightning took him and enclosed him in gleaming black scaled armor. On midnight wings he rose into the sky. _I'm coming… _

-VV-

Vincent stood at the bottom of the steps and stared up at the double doors of the ShinRa Corporation, North Corel office. The setting sun was warm on his back. This was where Rufus had told him to come. He mounted the steps.

The left door opened outward pushed by a tall man in dark sunglasses wearing a midnight blue suit. His black hair was drawn back into a tight tail. His strong Wutain features shifted into something resembling a smile. The red bindhi between his brows gleamed. "Valentine."

Vincent's fingers twitched, but he did not reach for his gun. He schooled his expression to one of mild interest and nodded. "Tseng."

Tseng stepped back, holding the door open. "This way, sir."

Vincent entered the cool industrial black and white tiled hallway.

Tseng nodded then stepped past Vincent to lead him to the far end of the hall. They stopped at the steel doors of an elevator. Tseng turned to Vincent. "My apologies, but your weapon, please?" He held out his hand.

Vincent seriously considered just shooting him. He sighed. Not a good idea if he wanted to know where and how Sephiroth was being held. He pulled out his gun and held it out, grip first. He smiled tightly. "Careful, there's no safety on this."

Tseng nodded gravely. "I will, sir." He pulled out a slide card and inserted it in the narrow and barely visible slot to one side. A tiny red light went out and a green light went on. The elevator doors opened. Tseng nodded. "Sir."

Vincent went in.

Tseng stepped into the elevator and reached for the steel bound control panel. He inserted his card again, and tapped the keypad. The doors closed, and the elevator rose.

Vincent very nearly smiled. All those security measures might work on someone else, but they wouldn't do a damned bit of good with him. He could rip through walls if he had to.

The elevator rose past the twelfth floor to one unmarked. The doors opened into a broad circular office with plush gray carpet, and curving pale blue walls. Tiny inset lights glowed all the way around the ceiling's edge. The far wall was almost solid plate glass showing the town of North Corel.

To the right was a loveseat and chair upholstered in black leather set behind a coffee table of plate glass resting on a pair of swirling sculptures done in black marble. To the left was a broad black desk that gleamed with polish.

Lounging against the edge of the desk was the youthful president of ShinRa Power and Electric draped in a frost white floor-length coat that hung open. Rufus ShinRa's blond hair gleamed golden under the small inset lights. His snowy white three-piece suit and warm gold tie shimmered slightly, revealing that it was made of silk. However, the black buckled vest peaking out from under his suit jacket was clearly fine leather. He held a manila envelope open in his hands and was obviously reading the contents.

Two midnight blue suited Turks, both in dark sunglasses, were positioned just outside the elevator doors. A small elegant blond woman stood on the left, and a large dark haired male on the right. They peeked in, stared briefly at Vincent, looked at Tseng and resumed their positions.

Vincent frowned slightly. She looked familiar.

Tseng motioned Vincent off the elevator.

Vincent stepped off.

Tseng stepped out behind him.

The blond woman turned and stepped into the elevator, taking Vincent's pistol from Tseng in passing. She turned to smile at Vincent. The elevator doors closed.

Vincent turned and lifted a brow at Tseng. They were so afraid of his weapon they didn't even want it on the same floor? He almost smiled. _He_ was far more dangerous than his pistol.

Tseng nodded toward the room's interior, indicating that Vincent should go on, and stepped back to take the woman's original position by the elevator door.

Vincent stepped further into the broad office.

Rufus lifted his head and smiled. "Vincent, come on in." He closed the folder and set it on the desk beside him.

Vincent stalked closer to the desk and stopped about two arm-lengths away. "Thank you for seeing me."

Rufus leaned back against the desk and set his hands on his hips. "How was your flight?"

Vincent crossed his arms over his chest, his armored hand folded over the top. He smiled tightly. "Pleasantly uneventful."

"Good, good." Rufus tilted his head, his brows furrowing. "Pardon my directness, but your file says you should be nearing sixty, yet you look like you're barely twenty-one."

Vincent felt his cheeks heat. "I was twenty-seven when I…" He looked away briefly. "When I stopped aging."

"Really?" Rufus pursed his lips. "Hmm…"

The elevator doors rumbled open behind Vincent. He turned to look.

A tall slender man in a rumpled blue suit that was zippered closed stalked in carrying an electric baton perched on his shoulder. His unruly hair, the color of fresh blood, was pulled back into a tail that fell to his waist. His eyes were a brilliant aquamarine.

Right behind him was a far taller, and more massively built, dark skinned man wearing dark sunglasses without a trace of hair on his head. His midnight suit neatly pressed and showed the subtle bulge of a large pistol under his left arm.

Vincent's brows lifted. Rufus had brought_ five_ Turks?

The slender redhead grinned. "Oh, hi Vincent!"

Vincent blinked, suddenly placing the face. "Reno." His gaze shifted to Reno's partner. "Rude." He'd seen them several times in Tifa's bar, _Seventh Heaven_.

Rude nodded.

Reno's mouth fell open. "Whoa, so you _can _actually talk!"

Vincent lifted his brows. "When I have something to say."

Reno's brows dipped. "What fun is that?"

Vincent lifted his chin over the high collar of his mantle and smiled carefully to hide his long teeth. "You'd be amazed at how much you can learn that way."

Reno's brows lifted, then dropped lower, his gaze focusing sharply with clear suspicion. "Have you been talking to Tseng?"

Vincent lifted his brows.

Rude rolled his eyes and gave his partner a shove in the center of his back, rocking the redhead forward.

Reno turned to flash his partner a scowl, but kept moving forward to saunter past Vincent.

Rufus lifted his chin and shot a narrowed gaze at Reno.

Reno visibly flinched, then grinned broadly and kept moving past the desk. Both men positioned themselves on the far side.

Rufus shook his head and smiled at Vincent. "So, what is it you wanted to tell me?"

Vincent's heart thumped hard. He took a deep breath, reaching for calm. "About Sephiroth…"

Rufus smiled tightly. "Oh, there's no need to worry about him." He pursed his lips and pulled a luminescent silver-green globe from his suit pocket. "I've already dealt with Sephiroth." He spun the glowing ball on his palm.

Vincent stared at the familiar swirl of colors in the luminescent ball and his pulse beat in his ears. "Have you?"

"Yes, and far more easily than you might imagine." Rufus tossed the glowing ball up and caught it in his pale palm. "Normally the manufacture of _materia_ is a difficult process. One has to capture the original creature, remove the soul without losing it or damaging it, and then condense that soul into an elemental form that can be materialized into a corporeal form on invocation." He sighed. "You would not believe how expensive manufacturing an elemental is." He rolled the crystal between his palms. "Of course they make these differently in Wutai."

Vincent frowned. What did any of that have to do with…?

Rufus smiled at Vincent "How nice that Sephiroth was already in an elemental state. All I had to do was package him in exceedingly pure, not to mention murderously expensive, crystal." He held up the silver-green globe

Vincent could _not_ have heard that right. "Are you saying that _that_ is Sephiroth?"

"Correct, though not for long." Rufus lifted the ball and frowned at it. "This _materia_ is still in a very raw state." He tucked the crystal into his suit pocket. "After a while, the personality will dissipate leaving nothing but a mindless apparition that I can invoke any time I please." He smiled and patted his pocket. "An apparition with every magical and non-magical skill Sephiroth ever had perfectly under my control."

Vincent stared as though encased in ice. Sephiroth had been reduced to a ball of _materia_? Black fury burst in the back of Vincent's skull. _No!_ His mouth opened on a snarl showing all his long teeth.

Rufus's eyes widened.

In a swirl of scarlet Vincent launched himself at Rufus moving faster than the human eye could see. He grabbed Rufus, tossing the man over his shoulder like a rolled rug. Rising his titanium armored forearm, he smashed right through the office's plate glass window. Shards of glass exploded outward around them.

Rufus didn't even have time to shout.

Wings opened wide and holding his burden tightly, Vincent sailed out into the night. He hadn't been able to save Sephiroth as a child, or as a man, but this time he would. Right or wrong, no matter the cost, he would not lose him again.


	14. Chapter 14

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

* * *

**Fourteen**

* * *

Vincent strained his wings, but Rufus ShinRa was surprisingly difficult to carry in flight. Then again, perhaps it wasn't so surprising. Although Rufus was the same height as Vincent, Rufus was far more muscular in build compared to Vincent's slender frame. Vincent was stronger by far, but his wings just weren't large enough to carry two, especially when one of them was struggling like a madman.

Rufus was dragging them down at a rate Rufus wouldn't survive.

Vincent called on his beast. In mid-dive the black lightning burst from his skin expanding his body and coating him in scaled armor. Horns curled from his heavy brow, and his long snaking tail whipped behind him. Right under Rufus's belly, he transformed.

To his credit, Rufus didn't scream. He did swear a whole lot though, and loudly. Vincent was actually impressed. The only fear the man showed was in his death-grip on the ridges down Vincent's back, while he was pounding on the plates with his other fist.

Vincent pumped his wings, turning sharply, and sailed upward. He needed someplace sufficiently difficult for Rufus's five Turks to reach. He didn't want them interrupting.

The highest point closest to him was the very top ledge of the reactor. That wasn't going to do. Gaia only knew what kind of fumes came out of that stack.

The next building over was a warehouse. It wasn't nearly as tall, but the roof was fairly flat and looked strong enough to actually hold the beast's weight. There was a battered outbuilding housing the roof access close to the roof's center. That would do to block most of the wind.

Vincent landed on the warehouse roof in a crouch without too much of a crunching impact. The roof groaned, but didn't buckle. Satisfied, Vincent let Rufus slide from his shoulder.

Rufus landed on his feet. His legs clearly shook under him, but he remained standing.

Vincent reached out and carefully hooked his saber-long claws through the back of the man's coat collar, tearing only minor holes in the fabric.

Rufus choked and grabbed for the neck of his coat.

Vincent released his beast. The black lightning erupted and dissolved the monstrous body, leaving Vincent in his customary mantle and cape, gripping Rufus by the collar with his armored hand.

Rufus turned to face Vincent, and narrowed his ice-blue gaze. "Valentine…"

Vincent's brows rose. _Oh, so I'm Valentine again, rather than Vincent?_ He couldn't help but smile. Apparently, he'd gained a little respect.

"This isn't funny, Valentine!" Rufus bared his teeth, near blind with fury. "What in Hell's name do you think you're doing?"

Vincent's long black hair lifted in the chilly night wind. He stared at the rumpled and violently angry Rufus. What _was _he doing?

He was saving someone he should have protected a long time ago. Someone he'd never had the chance to protect. Someone that had never been rescued from the madness that took them. …Someone who should have been a hero, but had been branded a villain. …Someone that deserved a chance at redemption. He was giving Sephiroth a second chance.

Vincent started walking along the warehouse roof, dragging Rufus behind him.

"Valentine, damn you, answer me!" Rufus grabbed for Vincent's wrists and dug in his heels. "What the fuck, are you doing?"

Vincent kept pulling, dragging Rufus behind him. Rufus was by no means a weak man, but Vincent wasn't even close to human. "I'm sorry Rufus, but you've given me no choice."

"Who? Me? What the fuck did I do?" Rufus banged on Vincent's armored arm with his fist. "Talk to me, damn you!"

Vincent kept walking, pulling Rufus after him.

There was a harsh metallic click. Rufus's voice was a deep harsh growl. "Talk to me, right now, or I'll blow your fucking brains out."

Vincent stopped and looked back at Rufus.

Rufus held the ugliest large caliber, automatic pistol Vincent had ever seen, pointed at Vincent's head.

Vincent lifted his chin so he could smile over the collar of his mantle. "Shoot if you like, but it won't kill me. However, it will piss me off."

Rufus kept the gun pointed. "Just tell me what is going on, and who is behind it. That's all I want."

Vincent took a breath and tilted his head. "All right. You've turned Sephiroth into a ball of _materia_. I'm going to release him from it."

Rufus's mouth fell open and he squinted. "You're going to _release _Sephiroth? You?" He threw out both his arms and bellowed at the top of his lungs. "Are you _insane_?"

Vincent smiled tightly. "Yes me, and truthfully, I'm not sure if I was ever sane to begin with."

Rufus snorted. "I will not argue on your sanity, or lack thereof. However…" He cleared his throat. "Would you kindly release me? It's not as if I have anywhere to run, and it's very uncomfortable."

Vincent sighed and let Rufus go.

Rufus lowered his pistol to tug at the lapels of his coat. "Thank you." He jerked at his sleeves. "Now then…" He held up his hands in a placating motion, though it looked rather odd with the pistol in his right hand. "Vincent, no one can release anything from _materia_ except by invocation."

Vincent crossed his arms and hid his smile behind the collar of his mantle. He was Vincent again instead of Valentine. Rufus apparently though he had some sort of advantage. "Oh, really?"

Rufus nodded. "Yes, really. But what interests me the most is…" He scrubbed his free hand through his hair. "Why the hell would you _want_ to release the man that tried to murder the world?" He flung out his arms in clear exasperation. "I thought you _hated_ him?" He crossed his arms and huffed. "Even more than you hated me."

Vincent shook his head. "It's difficult to explain…"

Rufus spoke through his clenched teeth. "Try."

Vincent lifted his brows. "All right. There are two Sephiroths, and you caught the wrong one."

Rufus stared at Vincent, his ice-blue eyes wide. "Two… There are _two_ Sephiroths?"

Vincent held his gaze. "Yes. Sephiroth died in the Nibelheim reactor. What tried to murder the world was his regenerated body operating under the complete control of Jenova. What you caught was the ghost of the original man, not the creature that tried to murder the world."

Rufus frowned deeply, then rocked back on his heels. "Then what in hell's name manifested in the body of that clone last summer?" He curled his lip. "It certainly looked like Sephiroth to me."

Vincent lifted his chin to show his smile. "Those three weren't clones."

Rufus waved his hand. "My reports say that the DNA matches, so technically they _were_ clones. What they don't say is how the hell they happened outside of a cloning tank."

Vincent leaned back on his heels. "They were regenerated revenants of Sephiroth's Jenova-infested body."

Rufus's brows lifted very slowly. "They were…_what_?"

Vincent smiled tightly. "It seems that the individual pieces regenerate into whole bodies."

Rufus winced. "Wonderful." He sighed, then lifted a brow at Vincent. "So in effect, instead of one big Sephiroth, we have lots of little Sephiroths skipping about?"

Vincent shook his head. "They're all little Jenovas chasing after_ Reunion_ and the world's end." He sighed. "What manifested from that revenant was clearly Jenova, wearing the form Jenova was most used to wearing – Sephiroth."

"I see." Rufus swept a hand down his face and rolled his eyes. "Well, that explains just about everything, not to mention completely ruins my day." He scowled. "It appears I'll have to adjust this year's budget for a clean-up crew."

Vincent lifted his brows. "Satisfied?"

Rufus nodded. "Thank you." He frowned at Vincent. "Now, would you mind telling me what we are doing out here?"

"Certainly." Vincent reached out faster than the human eye could see, and plucked the pistol from Rufus's hand.

Eyes wide, Rufus stared at his gun hanging loosely in Vincent's human hand.

Vincent swung his arm and flung the gun clear off the roof, without bothering to look where it went. "We're here because I need you to release Sephiroth."

"I_ can't_!" Rufus threw out his hands and shouted. "No one can!"

Vincent smiled. "I can." He reached out and grabbed Rufus by the back of the collar. "I just need your body." He turned away and resumed dragging Rufus toward the roof access.

Rufus choked and grabbed for Vincent's armored wrist. "I'm perfectly capable of walking, if you don't mind?"

Vincent ignored him and kept walking

Rufus exploded into a long and rather impressively creative stream of invectives.

Vincent hauled Rufus around to the back side of the outbuilding that housed the roof access and slammed him back against the narrow wall. The metal gave a hollow bang.

Rufus gasped. His steady stream of obscenities halted, but he remained on his feet.

Vincent reached out and tugged Rufus's tie free from around his throat.

Rufus snatched the tie back. "That is my best tie, thank you very much." He shoved it into his coat pocket.

With blinding speed, Vincent undid the suit jacket's buttons then unfastened the leather vest buckles.

Rufus scowled at Vincent. "May I ask, what you think you're doing?"

Vincent undid the top buttons to Rufus's shirt and jerked the collar wide. "I need to get to your throat." He grabbed Rufus by the shoulder and turned him to face the wall.

Rufus threw his hands out to keep from hitting the wall with his face. "You are _not _fucking me!"

Vincent snorted. "No Rufus, I am not." With his right and human hand, he grabbed a handful of Rufus's dark blond hair and pulled Rufus's head to the side, bearing the left side of his throat. "I'm going to drain about half of your soul."

"You're _what…_?" Rufus grabbed for Vincent's wrist. "You can't…!"

"I can." Vincent grabbed Rufus's left arm and shoved it down, then wrapped his armored arm around Rufus's chest, trapping Rufus's left arm against his side. "In fact I drain souls fairly often. It's what I feed on."

Rufus struggled in Vincent's hold. "Vincent! You can't do this! You're a…You're a damned goody-goody! You don't do things like this! Think about what you're doing…!"

Vincent set his lips next to Rufus's ear and whispered. "I _have_ thought about this, believe me I have. In fact, I've always thought before I acted. I've done the right thing, the good thing, all my fucking life! Any you know what? Doing the right thing lost me everything and everyone I ever cared about! Let's see what happens when I do the wrong thing for once." He opened his mouth on Rufus's throat and licked, searching for the pulse of the carotid.

Rufus trembled and his voice became breathless. "What in fuck's name are you doing now?"

Vincent found the pulse and licked his lips. "I will advise you not to struggle. My teeth are long and very sharp. It would be a shame if you moved and I accidentally ripped your throat wide open."

Rufus froze. The acrid scent of fear sweat erupted from Rufus's body, but his voice was perfectly steady. "Are you planning to kill me?"

"No." Vincent bit down, his long teeth burrowing deep.

Rufus gasped and tensed. "Ow! Fuck! Son of a fucking bitch!"

Vincent pulled his teeth free, set his lips to the tears, and sucked in a mouthful. Rufus's blood held the bitter tinge of Jenova-taint, but the alien strain was voiceless, dormant, inert. Vincent briefly recalled the healing rain from a few months ago. The odd rain had been the cure for the skin-blackening disease that had plagued those tainted by the Jenova strain. Apparently Rufus had spent some time under that healing fall. _Good._ He wouldn't have to worry about going insane again.

He swallowed, and tasted the essence of the soul that inhabited the body. _Not bad._ Not particularly strong in magic, but very vital just the same. He took a deeper draught, and then another, and another…

Rufus closed his eyes and groaned. "Hurts… You shit."

Vincent kept drinking…swallow after swallow…

Rufus's body eased of tension. His breathing slowed, as did his heart. He released a soft groan and went completely limp in Vincent's arms.

Vincent lifted his head and licked his lips. He released Rufus's hair and wiped his scarlet smeared lips with the back of his right hand. Supporting Rufus's body, Vincent eased down to his knees then sat with Rufus sprawled across his lap.

Rufus's eyes fluttered open. "What…? He blinked up at Vincent, his eyes barely focusing. "What kind of a monster are you?" His voice was soft and breathless.

Vincent smiled. "Ask Hojo. He made me this way."

Rufus panted softly. "Now what?"

"Now…" Vincent unfastened the buckles attaching his gold titanium _gauntlet_ from his forearm _vambrace_. "I'm going to show you a secret, Rufus." He pulled the _gauntlet_ free and set the clawed glove down at his side. "A secret that your company paid for." A hard tug slid his leather glove out from under his armor revealing his black hand. It crackled with chaos lightning. He spread his clawed fingers before Rufus's eyes. "Do you know what this is?"

Rufus frowned. "That wasn't in your file."

Vincent used both hands to grip Rufus's half-buttoned dress shirt. "My hand is made of pure chaos." He jerked. Buttons scattered and fabric tore, bearing Rufus's chest. "Chaos un-makes things."

Rufus groaned. "Hey, that shirt did not come cheap!" His voice was breathless, but he grabbed on to Vincent's mantle with a surprisingly strong grip. "Wait a minute…" He looked up at Vincent. "Chaos does…what?"

Vincent leaned over and reached into Rufus's coat pocket. "It un-makes things. It devolves them down to the elemental level." He pulled out the crystal that held Sephiroth imprisoned and held it up before Rufus's eyes. "…Things such as this _materia_ crystal." Within his black claws, a shimmering mist erupted from the crystal, and it began to shrink. "My hand is only a small extension of the Chaos that inhabits me. It's designed specifically to collect the soul from a living body." He stared at the disintegrating crystal and smiled mildly. "Though, it's also good for dispelling magic and breaking down small objects."

Rufus frowned. "I don't understand. Chaos…? Souls…? What are you planning?"

"I am planning to do a very bad thing, Rufus." The crystal in Vincent's hand dissolved completely into mist leaving a bright green-silver ball of flame floating within Vincent's black claws. "I'm delivering a fresh body to Sephiroth."

"You're…_what_?" Rufus's eyes widened. "You can't mean _me_?"

Vincent lowered his hand until the glowing green-silver flame flicker right over Rufus's heart. "Yes, you." He looked onto Rufus's wide ice-blue gaze. "Good by, Rufus ShinRa." He pressed the flickering soul against Rufus's chest. It disappeared.

Rufus gasped and arched, his eyes opening wide. He dropped, slumping boneless across Vincent's lap. His eyes closed.

Vincent's heart twisted and his eyes burned. Hot wetness spilled down his cheek that he refused to think about.

"Vincent." The voice was achingly familiar, and it came from the body sprawled across his lap.

Vincent opened his eyes.

Rufus was frowning in a fashion that did not belong on his face. There was a definite green gleam in the heart of his ice-blue eyes. He lifted his hand and pressed a palm to Vincent's cheek. "You're weeping?"

Vincent took a deep breath, afraid to hope. "Sephiroth?"

"Yes." He pushed to sit up in Vincent's lap. "And no."

Vincent hastily scrubbed his gloved human hand across his damp cheeks. "Yes and no?"

Sephiroth lifted Rufus's hands and examined them. "Correct. Rufus is still in here." He groaned. "I feel like total crap."

"I can fix that." Vincent brought his hands together over Rufus's bare chest. "Hold still."

Rufus stared up at Vincent with Sephiroth gleaming in his eyes. "Hmm?"

Vincent invoked his more commonly known magic. "Cure three." Warm golden light exploded in a bright ball around them. The light dissolved into Rufus's body.

Rufus sighed, but it was Sephiroth who spoke. "Oh, that's much better." He turned and smiled at Vincent. It was a brutal smile that did not belong on that face at all, but it was painfully familiar all the same. "We had a long talk, Rufus and I."

Vincent's brows lifted. A long talk? He was only out for a few moments. He started working his leather glove back over his black hand. "Did you?"

Rufus's head nodded. "It seems that Rufus ShinRa would like to live." Rufus's head tilted up and Sephiroth looked up at Vincent. "He made me a counter-offer."

Vincent's picked up his armored hand _gauntlet _and frowned. "What kind of counter-offer?" He slid the _gauntlet_ on and bucked it to the underside of his forearm _vambrace_. "

Sephiroth smiled broadly with Rufus's face. "A clone."

Vincent stared. "A _clone_?"

The man sprawled across Vincent's lap nodded. "By using a clone, I won't need to displace anyone and it'll be a perfect match." Sephiroth curled Rufus's lip. "I'd rather not use this body. It's is in terrible condition." Sephiroth held up Rufus's hand. "Help me up."

Vincent rose to his feet, pulling Rufus up with him. "Can you trust him?"

"Of course." Sephiroth closed Rufus's shirt frowning at the rips, then tugged the vest and suit-jacket back into place. "If he does not live up to his end of the bargain, he knows I can always have you put me right back in here." He looked over at Vincent. "And he knows you won't hesitate."

Vincent snorted. "Good point."

Rufus lifted his chin, and his expression changed to a scowl more natural to his face. "Sephiroth, if I am to…fulfill your requirements, I can't do it from…the back seat." He snorted. "Unless of course you'd like to take over all my paperwork?"

Vincent lifted his brows. Rufus was indeed still in his own body.

Rufus's expression shifted. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, very well." It was clearly Sephiroth's voice. "By all means, keep your paperwork. I'm a general, not a bureaucrat."

Rufus abruptly straightened and shook out his arms. "This is going to be a complete pain in my ass." He tilted his head from side to side, with slight popping sounds. "Ah, that's better." He tugged at his coat, then scowled at his lost shirt buttons. He shot a glare at Vincent. "You owe me for a very expensive dress shirt, in addition to a very costly bullet-proof plate glass window."

Vincent folded his arms and smiled tightly. "What a pity, I don't have any money."

Rufus suddenly smiled, and it was pure Rufus. "Then you can work off your debt."

"Work?" Vincent's brows shot up. "Doing what?"

Rufus crossed his arms. "According to your records, you were a Turk. You can simply resume your duties."

Vincent froze where he stood. "I…_What_?"

"He'd make an excellent field operative." The voice was thoroughly Sephiroth.

Vincent took a step back. What the hell was _this_? "Are you out of your mind?

"Actually no, I'm not out of my mind." Rufus scowled. "In fact, I have company in here."

Vincent had no idea which one had said it, and that thoroughly bothered him. He hunched his shoulders and bared his teeth. "I am _not_ going to work for ShinRa!"

Rufus raised his chin and lifted a brow. "Oh, so you're willing to abandon Sephiroth to me then?"

Vincent leveled a cold glare at Rufus. "Give me one good reason why I should work for the company that did _this_ to me?" He raised his armored hand.

Rufus snorted. "How does this reason suit you? The only people allowed in my presence are Turks. If you want to keep an eye on Seph, you do it as a Turk or you don't do it at all."

Vincent suddenly felt the world tilt under his feet. What the fuck was he supposed to? There was no way in hell he wanted to go back to being a ShinRa Turk, but he couldn't leave Sephiroth alone with Rufus ShinRa either. _Crap, crap, crap!_ He bared his teeth. "You manipulative bastard…"

Rufus nodded with a smile on his lips. "Yes, I know, but then that's why I have the largest office."

Once again Vincent couldn't tell which one was talking. He shivered. The two of them were far too similar in personality for his comfort.

Rufus tilted his head and spoke with his own voice. "First thing I plan to do is get you to a decent tailor." He shook his head. "That ragamuffin outfit is thoroughly unprofessional."

A _tailor_? Vincent froze where he stood, the ramifications of working under Rufus ShinRa suddenly unfolding before him in horrifying detail. Working under Rufus would expose him. Not just the full extent of his abilities, but all of him, his body, his strengths, his weaknesses, his secrets… He'd be completely and utterly vulnerable. Vincent shook his head and took a step back. "Sephiroth, I'm sorry, but I can't do it."

Rufus's gaze hardened and his smile evaporated. Sephiroth's voice was soft but icy. "You're not leaving me."

_What…?_ Vincent balled his hands into fists. "I _can't_ work for ShinRa."

Cold hard determination blazed from Rufus's gaze. "It's not for him, it's for me."

Vincent held his gaze but a fine trembling started in his body. "Sephiroth, I _can't_."

Rufus's voice vibrated with a growl that was all Sephiroth. "Don't make me give Rufus your _name_."

Vincent jerked back as though he'd been slapped. He stared in shock, then curled his lip showing his long fangs. "You wouldn't dare…"

Rufus's entire body shifted until there was no mistake that Sephiroth was in full control of it. "You're not leaving me Vincent."

Rufus's body shifted again, and so did his voice. "He doesn't want you to go Valentine." Rufus's words were mild, almost gentle. "And I'm afraid he's fairly desperate."

Vincent glared, his entire body shaking with anger.

Rufus just stared back wearing a slight smile, his arms crossed with Sephiroth burning in his eyes.

The door to the roof stairs burst open. Three seriously pissed off Turks came flooding out of the stairwell all carrying high powered machineguns blazing with _materia_. They fanned out and took up positions to either side of Rufus, their weapons all pointed at Vincent.

In a wash of incredible noise and wind, a helicopter emblazoned with the ShinRa company logo rose alongside the building. The broadside door was open and a small blond woman armed with rather huge machinegun clearly powered with multiple _materia_.

Rufus lifted his hand.

The three Turks froze staring.

The helicopter hovered right where it was.

Rufus lifted his chin. "Do we have an agreement, Valentine?"

Vincent leveled the coldest glare he had on Rufus, but he meant it for the both of them. "Fine."

With his white coat blowing in the wind from the helicopter, Rufus folded his hands behind his back and lifted his chin. "Tseng."

The tallest Turk straightened from his crouch, lifting his weapon to the shoulder position. He walked up to Rufus's left side. "Sir?"

Rufus turned to smile at him. "Say hello to your newest recruit."

Tseng looked sharply at Vincent. His brows lifted well above his dark glasses.

Vincent continued to glare at Rufus, but it was meant for Sephiroth. As soon as he had a body, Vincent planned to beat the living crap out of it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Diabolic**  
_By Ookami Kasumi _

_**Warning: **Rated M - Yaoi content, adult language, mild violence  
**FFVII - After AC  
Sephiroth / Vincent  
All characters © Square Enix**_

* * *

**Fifteen**

* * *

Vincent stepped from the elevator onto the unmarked twenty-fourth floor and blew out a breath. Even after six months, he still wasn't used to being at ShinRa Power and Electric as one the dark suited Turks.

It still felt strange wearing ordinary clothes, though his dress shirts, vests, and suit jackets had all been carefully tailored to conceal his non-visible wings. He'd also been given a long trench coat with carefully disguised and strategically placed open side seams.

It had taken him weeks to learn how to knot his red tie properly.

He was somewhat used to having his long black hair combed back and neatly trimmed. Short hair would not have hidden his pointed ears. The typical ShinRa dark sunglasses disguised his scarlet eyes rather well. He still wore a red cloth around his brow, but it was a far slimmer and neater version that was worn under his hair, rather than over it. His armored glove was back at his apartment. It wouldn't fit under his suit. He'd had to settle for simple black leather.

The whole ensemble wasn't actually uncomfortable, but it was galling to be so…exposed. His tailor knew exactly what his body looked like. He had an apartment, a bank account, bills… He'd been forced to join society at large. He even had a car, a modest sedan.

He was far less noticeable among the general public, the average person barely looked his way. However, every single one of the Turks not only knew what he was, but pretty much everything he was capable of.

Oddly, his differences hadn't made him an outcast, though absolutely no one liked being assigned as his partner. He was far too good at what he did. They simply could not compete on his skill level.

Tseng, his immediate superior, was positively thrilled with his ability to infiltrate just about any place he cared to send Vincent. Not to mention that he was invaluable during interrogations. All he had to do was remove his glasses to show his scarlet eyes, and smile showing his long teeth, and whoever they had in the chair would start spilling everything they knew.

The only thing Vincent had real problems with was working the day shift. He was a night creature by nature. Unfortunately he didn't have a choice. Rufus worked days, not nights. When he went outside during daylight hours, he'd been forced to wear a fairly broad-brimmed black fedora hat to keep his neck from getting sun-burned in seconds.

To Tseng's complete chagrin, sitting still, whether it was in a car or at a desk, would put him to sleep in a matter of minutes. He'd been forced to voice-record any reports that couldn't wait until after sunset.

Rufus was still a total and complete bastard to work under, but apparently he'd meant what he said to Cloud almost a year ago, about ShinRa Corp. making up for very nearly causing the world's destruction. There was no mistaking that he was out for profit, but the wars he fought were in boardrooms with lawyers, not on battlefields with monsters.

The SOLDIER program no longer existed. Instead, there was a veritable army of Turks.

Vincent sighed. He still hadn't told Cloud he was working for ShinRa. Thank the powers that he was known for his long disappearances, so Cloud hadn't come looking for him. According to Seph, he should be done cohabitating with Rufus sometime very soon, so perhaps Vincent wouldn't have to.

Vincent nodded to Rufus's secretary and approached the office door.

Rude stood by the office door in his neatly pressed midnight blue suit and usual dark sunglasses. He turned and gave Vincent a slight nod.

Tall, slender, Reno, leaned against the wall on the far side of the doorway with his unruly scarlet hair pulled back into its customary tail. His zipper suit was rumpled with the white shirt hanging out and barely buttoned. There was no trace of a tie. His arms were folded across his narrow chest and he glared at Vincent with pure vitriolic hate.

Vincent gave him a slight smile. _Poor Reno…_ He was not happy with Sephiroth living in his lover's body. Apparently the deal was, if Rufus played with Reno, Seph was allowed to play too. However, with Rufus, and Reno painfully jealous when it came to each other, no one had touched anyone – for the past six months.

Vincent snorted. Just as well. He had no interest in letting Rufus anywhere near him. He opened the door and walked into Rufus's spacious black, white, and gray office.

Leaning up against the black ultra-modern desk with his arms crossed was a pale graceful youth in a black turtleneck and black jeans. His eyes were a striking emerald green and his snow-white hair tumbled over his shoulders to very nearly his waist. He was only a head shorter than Vincent and painfully beautiful.

Vincent blinked. He _knew _that boy. He'd seen him before…somewhere.

The youth stepped forward and smiled. "Well, what do you think?" The voice was surprisingly deep for someone so young and the expression was unmistakable.

Vincent stared. _Holy shit!_ "Seph?"

The boy's grin broadened. "Yep!" He held out his slender arms and turned all the way around, showing off his willowy form. "How do I look?"

Vincent swallowed hard. "I think you look amazingly…familiar."

"I should." The youth smiled. "This is a clone developed from one of Hojo's early blood samples."

Vincent felt the small hairs lift on the back of his neck. "Your early blood samples had active Jenova-taint."

Rufus stood up from his desk chair setting down his handful of papers. His white silk suit and gold tie shimmered slightly with his movements. "The clone was subjected to a bath consisting of the water used to cure the _geostigma_, rendering the Jenova strain inert." He smiled tightly. "I made sure of it myself."

The youthful Sephiroth smiled tightly. "Uncle Rufus doesn't want a repeat of my last performance any more than I do."

Vincent's brows lifted. "Uncle Rufus?"

Rufus lifted a shoulder and very casually turned to look out the window behind his desk. "Someone has to care for him while he's young."

_Care for him…?_ Vincent stared while something twisted in the region of his heart. _But…?_

But Rufus was right. Someone did have to care for the youthful Sephiroth. Someone had to provide a home, food, clothes…a life. Vincent released a soft breath. He simply…couldn't. He lived in the small apartment directly below Rufus, but it was merely a place to sleep, shower, and store his suits. He didn't eat human food. He had no clue how to provide for a…a boy. "I see."

Sephiroth's smile slipped into something far chillier and far more determined. "Rufus and I have come to an agreement. I will be his role-model ward, and he'll see that I have everything I need to be ready for…the future."

Vincent lifted his gaze toward Rufus. "Then you know?"

"About Jenova haunting the life-stream?" Rufus took in a deep breath and released it. "Actually, I rather wish I didn't." A tight smile lifted the corner of his mouth. "I told Cloud that ShinRa intended to atone for its past transgressions." He snorted. "However, I didn't expect to fulfill that statement quite so literally." He nodded toward Sephiroth.

Vincent's mouth tightened. ShinRa had once again created Sephiroth. Hopefully this time ShinRa would help him become the world's hero instead of its villain. "Poetic justice, perhaps?"

Sephiroth smiled tightly. "I'd say it was far closer to divine justice."

Rufus cleared his throat and nodded toward the silver-haired youth. "So, do you approve of your new body, Seph?"

Sephiroth nodded gravely. "I do. Thank you."

Vincent tilted his head toward the blond boy. "How did you make a fourteen-year-old clone in six months?" He frowned. "And how did you make the transfer?"

Sephiroth folded his arms and snorted. "The body is seventeen. It merely looks young." He smiled. "The transfer was a simple kiss." He shot a narrow glance toward Rufus. "I wasn't sealed in _materia_ crystal this time, so passing from one body to the other posed no difficulty whatsoever."

Rufus nodded at Vincent. "The lab I used had one of the newer model cloning tanks, though they're used for actual medical purposes these days, rather than experimentation." He smiled at Sephiroth. "And I stopped the clone's process at sixteen."

Sephiroth scowled. "Sixteen…?"

Rufus's smile sharpened. "You said you wanted to have plenty of time to train, correct? I figured that it couldn't hurt to improve your social skills at the same time."

Sephiroth frowned. "My_ social_ skills…?"

Rufus turned around and leaned back against the window frame. He crossed his arms. "You need peers, companions, friends. The best way to obtain those is by attending school."

Sephiroth's small hands fisted at his sides. "I do _not_ need an education. I was thoroughly tutored!"

Rufus nodded gravely. "Yes, and that tutoring did nothing but isolate you from the rest of humanity." He lifted his chin and delivered a cool smile. "Three years of high school and a few more of college should do you a world of good."

Sephiroth was going to go to _high school_? Vincent's mind boggled.

Sephiroth's mouth fell open. "You're sending me to _school_?" The pitch of his voice rose. Apparently his mind was boggled too.

Rufus straightened and folded his hands behind him. "There is no better way to discover the true character of those who will share your future than by observing them in their youth, before they learn to hide it."

Sephiroth took a deep breath and tucked his chin. "A valid point."

Rufus nodded. "I think you will make a most excellent addition to the ShinRa corporation."

Sephiroth snorted. "I should warn you, I truly abhor paperwork."

Rufus rolled his eyes. "Don't we all?" He smiled. "But then, that's what secretaries are for."

Vincent stepped forward, drawing Sephiroth's attention, and Rufus's. "You're going to have to control that temper of yours while you're around all those children."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "I suppose I will have to refrain from setting them on fire."

Rufus's brows lifted. "You still have magical capability?"

Sephiroth snorted and lifted a graceful brow. "Of course. The talent rides with the soul, but it was also inherent with the body, even before Hojo's…additions."

The far door slammed open revealing Reno in the doorway, his eyes wide staring hard at Rufus. "Is it true? Is it over?" He stalked in, striding right past Sephiroth.

Rude, right on his partner's heels, stopped just inside the doorway staring at Sephiroth. His black brows lifted over his sunglasses.

Rufus focused hotly on Reno and smiled. "Yes, it's over."

Reno leaped straight up into the air and whooped. "Hot damn!" He shot a thoroughly lascivious grin at Rufus. "When?"

Rufus moved to his desk and lifted a paper. "As soon as I finish this meeting." He turned and looked over at Sephiroth.

Reno froze, made a sharp about-face, and stared at the silver-haired youth. His red brows lifted over his moss green eyes, and his Cupid's bow lips parted. "Oh, the pipsqueak's already walking around?"

"Yes." Sephiroth's smile thinned. "And the pipsqueak's hearing is in excellent condition."

The red-head grinned and nodded. "Great! Wow…" He strode all the way around Sephiroth, quite obviously keeping his distance from Vincent. "Damn, you make a cute kid."

Rufus cleared his throat. "He's sixteen, Reno. That's two years too young to play with you."

Vincent blinked. Sephiroth was a _minor_. A chuckle bubbled up and escaped.

Sephiroth turned sharply to frown at Vincent.

Reno turned and stuck out his bottom lip at Rufus. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Boss." He folded his arms across his chest. "I don't do kids."

Vincent smiled down at Sephiroth and mouthed silently, _Neither do I._

Sephiroth curled his lip in a scowl that was absolutely adorable. "We'll just see about that."

Vincent snorted. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm currently larger than you and far stronger. If you try anything that I don't approve of…" He smiled. "I'll give you a spanking."

Sephiroth's hands fisted at his sides and his mouth fell open. "You wouldn't dare!"

Vincent lifted his chin and his smile broadened showing his long teeth. "Try me." He lifted his gaze to Rufus. "ShinRa, you have my personal cell phone number, correct?" He looked down at Sephiroth. "Just in case."

Rufus lifted a hand to cover his mouth. He coughed and his cheeks flagged with red. "Oh, why, yes I do."

Reno laughed out loud. "Oh damn! Looks like you better be good or Uncle Vincent's gonna give you a whupping!"

Sephiroth leveled a glare at Reno. "You do realize that since _you_ are not a child, there's no reason I can't set you on fire?"

Reno very casually stepped back. "Somebody needs to learn to play nice."

Rufus coughed again and cleared his throat for good measure. "Seph, please don't set the employees on fire." He smiled. "You're going to need them, at the very least for sparing practice."

Sephiroth pursed his lips and nodded. "Point taken."

Reno turned to frown at Rufus. "Huh?"

Rufus strode over to his desk and sat on the corner. "Reno, does have his occasional uses. Try not to break him beyond repair."

Sephiroth grinned. "I'll do my best to leave him in one piece."

"Wait a minute…" Reno frowned. "Are you saying that this skinny brat can kick my ass?"

Rude snorted from his position at the doorway. "Yes."

A rather heated exchange broke out after that.

A smile curving his lips, Vincent stepped back and silently left the office. At the end of the hall he punched the elevator call. Rufus ShinRa was certainly going to have his hands full with his new charge, but it was truly possible that Sephiroth, the great and terrible might actually have a better life this time around, and a better future.

His mission was done. He was free. All he had left to do was hand Tseng his formal resignation.

The office door slammed open behind him. "Vincent!"

Vincent turned.

The pale youthful Sephiroth marched toward him, his mouth tight and his emerald eyes blazing. "Where are you going?"

Vincent's brows lifted. "I'm leaving."

"What?" Sephiroth's slender body trembled. "Why?" His voice was breathless and a damp shimmer appeared in his eyes.

Vincent shrugged. "You have what you wanted, a new body, and a new life to go with it."

Sephiroth lifted his chin and crossed his arms. "So?"

Vincent smiled while his pounding heart bled with every beat. "You don't need me any more."

Sephiroth scowled ferociously. "Bullshit." A tear slid down his cheek.

Vincent's heart twisted hard. "Oh hell…" He strode for the youth and wrapped him in a hug. He winced. The terror of the entire planet felt so damned fragile in his arms.

Sephiroth's hands fisted in Vincent's coat. "You can't leave."

Vincent pressed a kiss to the top of the youth's head. "I have no reason to stay."

Sephiroth sniffed against Vincent's coat lapel. "Yes you do. You're my bodyguard."

Vincent swallowed. "You have all of ShinRa…"

The youth's hands tightened in his coat, tugging on it. "I want you!"

Vincent's eyes burned. He was suddenly glad that that Sephiroth's face was buried in his coat. He took a breath to keep his voice even. "You'll be busy with school and…other things." _Peers, companions, friends…_

"So? That's only some of the daylight hours. You can work during those hours and spend the rest of your time with me, even if it's just playing stupid video games."

Vincent rolled his eyes. _Oh gee, thanks…_ "Seph…"

Sephiroth leaned back and glared up at Vincent. "I can get Rufus to _make_ you stay."

Vincent's bared his teeth and backed away. "Don't…!"

Sephiroth folded his arms across his slender chest and curled his lip. His determined expression was far too mature for his youthful face, and clearly showed the man he would be. "Then don't make me."

Vincent scowled down at him. "Haven't I done enough for him?"

"It's not for him, it's for me." Sephiroth scraped a hand against his damp cheek. "You can't leave me, Vincent." His green gaze narrowed to slits. "You belong with _me_. My body may be new, but how I feel has not changed." He pointed a slender finger at Vincent. "You will never escape me. Never!"

Vincent groaned. "What the hell did I do to deserve this?

Sephiroth grabbed onto Vincent's coat. "Swear to me that you'll stay." His voice was deep and determined, but his gaze shifted back and forth with clear uncertainty. "I can't…" He took a deep breath and then whispered very softly. "I can't do this without you."

Vincent's heart very quietly shattered in his chest. He closed his eyes. His throat was so tight all that came out was a whisper. "I'll stay."

Sephiroth sighed deeply. "Good." He lifted his chin and grinned up at Vincent. "Now, kiss me."

Vincent sighed then smiled. "I will, in two years."

Sephiroth's mouth fell open. "What?"

Vincent set his hands on Sephiroth's slender shoulders. "In two years you'll be eighteen and old enough to kiss."

The youth stomped his foot. "That is not fair!"

Vincent chuckled. He couldn't help it. Immaturity was catching up to Sephiroth very quickly. "Actually it's very fair. If you're going to make me keep working for ShinRa, you're going to have to wait until you're no longer a minor before you get a kiss."

Sephiroth growled, a low liquid rumbling in his chest. "You will pay for that." He grabbed Vincent around the waist and hugged him.

Vincent snorted and rolled his eyes. "I'm already paying for it." He closed his arms around the slender youth and sighed deeply. Life was certainly going to be interesting with Sephiroth back among the living.

Cloud was going to have a heart-attack.

* * *

** Fini**

* * *

_Dear ladies and gentlemen, readers and fellow writers… _

_Thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed my interpretation of the FFVII world. I do not own the rights to these characters, places, or events mentioned. If you feel inspired by my tale, by all means, feel free to continue it under your own names with your own titles. I would be honored to have my story be your source for inspiration. All I ask is that you not copy my work word for word. _

_This story is now yours. Do with it what you will. _

_** -- Ookami Kasumi / Nov 06 --  
**_


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